PHOTOS: iRobot, BPD Team Up to Deliver Robots to Sandy Victims

Several members of the Bedford Police Department embarked on a road trip down to Staten Island on Jan. 12 to deliver 100 iRobot Mint 5200 robots to victims of superstorm Sandy as well as to first responders assisting with the clean up and rebuild of the area. 

The robots, a $33,000 value, were delivered directly to residents and first responders on Staten Island by BPD Officer Maloney, Sgt. Wardwell and former BPD Emergency Communication Officer Dan Carroll. 

Vice President of Communications at iRobot, Nancy Dussault-Smith, said it was important to know the robots were delivered to victims of the storm who were rebuilding their homes. 

"We needed to make sure they got to people who were cleaning up and rebuilding," Dussault-Smith said. 

The idea to send cleaning robots down to victims of Sandy came to be shortly after the storm when iRobot received photos of robots that had been destroyed in the storm, according to Dussault Smith, but it was important to make sure the robots would be delivered to those who were involved in the clean up process.

Carroll previously organized a donation drive through BPD to collect food and clothes for the victims of superstorm Sandy, driving the donations down to New York back in November.

When iRobot was looking for someone to deliver their robots to those who needed them most on Staten Island, Carroll and BPD seemed like perfect partners. 

"We wanted to make sure they were going to the right place and not ending up in the back of someone's truck and being sold off," Dussault-Smith. 

It was equally important to ensure the robots were also going to volunteers and first responders who were helping with cleanup on Staten Island, because they would have an even better idea of who needed the robots the most, according to a statement from iRobot. 

"Homes are being rebuilt by the owners and volunteers from around the country have come to NY to assist," according to the statement. "Knowing this the crew personally handed the robots out to victims who could use them and to first responders."

Other Bedford businesses who donated food and supplies to the officers making the trip down included Texaco, Sunoco. Whole Foods, Stop and Shop and Ace Hardware.