COAL TOWNSHIP - Last month's flooding caused much disaster and personal heartache, some that won't be forgotten anytime soon.
In spite of it, the good in many people shone through - from volunteer firefighters and police officers to business leaders and neighbors, to perfect strangers.
Marty (Vasquez) Sinopoli was among many who lent a hand to area residents whose homes and businesses were inundated by water when Tropical Storm Lee passed through the area the week of Sept. 5.
With a simple post on Facebook, Marty was the catalyst of a relief effort of neighbors helping neighbors. It began with the collection and delivery of cleaning supplies and morphed into a community outreach project that remains under development.
And she is quick to deflect attention to the donors and fellow volunteers, along with a higher power.
"I'm not capable of this. I'm just a person, so it has to be something greater than me," Marty, 34, said Wednesday while reflecting on the relief efforts. "I didn't do anything extraordinary. I just wanted to be nice."
Going nowhere
Sinopoli readily admits she is a Shamokin girl at heart, but it took her a while before she put down roots in the coal region.
She arrived in the area after having moved with her family from Toledo, Ohio. Before that, they had lived in San Jose, Calif. In all, she said she'd attended 13 different schools before enrolling as a sophomore at Shamokin Area toward the end of the 1992-93 school year.
While her father is Mexican, he was never in her life and she said she never identified herself by race. Rather, she said, she has let her personality develop - she's bubbly, kind-hearted, strong and self-aware - and define her.
Although she initially had a hard time adjusting to life in Shamokin, Marty said she fell for the area's small neighborhoods and close-knit family relationships, the atmosphere of high school football on Friday nights and, surprisingly, the snow.
When her mother, Lori James, and stepfather filed for divorce during her senior year, it wasn't clear where she would live - well, at least not to her mother.
"At this point, I was like, 'I'm not going anywhere.' ... I had made friends here and I had made really good friends in Ohio and I was devastated to leave there. ... And she wasn't going anywhere without me."
Around this time, Marty was out with friends when she met Gino Sinopoli, four years her senior. The two hit it off and, within two weeks, she was convinced Gino would be her husband.
Marty was impressed that Gino was motivated and family oriented. Having never had her own father in her life, settling down with someone focused on raising a family was important to her.
"That was the most important thing to me," she said. "When I had kids I wanted them to have a good father because I never had a father."
In 2001, they were married. The couple have two daughters, Gianna, 8 and Gabby, 6. They'll celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary this week.
"If I did not have him, I would not be who I am. I didn't have the stable life as a child. ... I did not want that for my kids. I wanted a stable life. He's a good dad and a good husband."
In business
The Sinopoli's third child, according to Marty, is their business, GiGi's Gifts and Home Decor at the Plaza at Coal Township along Route 61. They opened the store in March 2010 and named it using the first letters of their daughters' names.
Marty worked at several restaurants in the area - Harry's, the Alamo, Masser's, Dunkin' Donuts - and also worked at Beneficial Financial Group. However, she and Gino had talked for years about opening a business.
They eventually settled on opening a store and after not finding the right place in downtown Shamokin, they moved into a storefront at the plaza.
Gino, a regional manager for industrial and commercial supplier Fastenal, developed the business plan for the store, and while the taste of products offered at GiGi's is all Marty's, she said it's Gino who knows what profit margins to target and chooses what products will work.
"All this," she said while sweeping her hand from one end of the store to another, "I do not do," she finished with a laugh. "I'm just the pretty face behind the counter. He does everything!"
In relief
When Tropical Storm Lee arrived in Northeast Pennsylvania, many municipal and state entities, along with relief agencies, were mobilized to help flood victims. Citizens, too, joined the effort.
Marty's mom, Lori, had called her about collecting cleaning supplies. Marty spread the word on Facebook and rounded up donations at the store. On Sept. 10, Marty, her mother and daughters walked door-to-door throughout flood-stricken areas of Shamokin and Coal Township, dropping off about four carloads of donated items..
The next day, donations were collected again, this time at the Sinopoli's Shamokin home. On Sept. 12, Marty said her store was overwhelmed with donations from area residents, looking to get much needed items into the right hands and counting on Marty and company to deliver. She again put out a message on Facebook seeking help, with several people responding to make deliveries - including Kristie Strunk-Bogush and Danielle Houtz, Sherry Romanoski, Kurt Yeager, Kara Kurtz and Steve and Dawn Kurtz.
When it was determined they'd canvassed the flood areas directly, donations were sent to area fire companies, including Brady and Trevorton. Monetary donations, too, were piling up, and Marty worked to get money into the hands of folks in serious need, providing money for clothing and food.
One donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, was gracious enough to purchase a furnace - covering an $8,500 estimate - for an elderly couple who had nowhere to turn, Marty said. That same donor turned around and donated several thousand dollars to other flood victims in Northumberland and Columbia counties.
"That is more than amazing. I was like, 'Oh my gosh!' I was crying," she said. "I was beside myself."
The neighbors-helping-neighbors concept is being developed into a non-denominational community outreach program at Our Lady of Hope Church, Coal Township. She said it will provide new and gently worn clothing and such to area residents in need. The project, collaborated on with the parish's reverend, Father Adrian Gallagher, is in its infancy, as its objective and a board of directors takes shape. Volunteers are sought.
The outpouring of support she's already received has solidified Marty Sinopoli's faith.
"God has blessed you. He makes it happen," she said. "These extraordinary things happen through people, not just me."