A Wild October: Extreme Heat, Record Snowfall, and Helping Hands

We are a pretty lucky group of people here at Unidesk. We have well-paying jobs that give us the ability to not have to worry about some of the basics in life – a roof over our heads, food on the table, heat, warm clothes, clean water, etc. Sometimes it is easy to take all that we have been afforded for granted, so a few times a year we come together as a company to give back to the community and those less fortunate.

In early October, we decided to participate in the 3^rd Annual Northborough Helping Hands Winter Coat Drive. A few days after circulating an email to bring in your gently used winter gear, we had record temperatures. Boston hit 87 degrees, which was an all-time record – not exactly the type of weather where you think about pulling out your winter gear. However, the team rallied and we put together quite the assortment of coats, jackets, snow pants, boots, gloves, mittens, and more.

Our donation was just in time as Mother Nature was ready to quickly turn on us in the Northeast. Starting on October 29^th, an area stretching from Washington DC to Maine got hit with one of the worst Nor’easters in history – and this was October! Some towns in western Massachusetts and New Hampshire received up to 3 feet of snow. Where Unidesk is headquartered, we received less snow, but the fact that most trees haven’t lost their leaves yet and temperatures were hovering around the freezing mark – creating a heavy, wet, sticky snow – caused severe damage including fallen trees and downed power lines.

With the storm hitting on Saturday and into Sunday, towns were forced to reschedule their Halloween festivities. It is now Wednesday; some towns still don’t have electricity, while others have come back online in the last 24 hours. It is always humbling when you lose something that most of us take for granted, and hopefully this will act as a reminder of just how fortunate we are.