It started with the gesture of delivering a generator to friends and family in his hometown of Toms River, NJ from his home in LaPlata, Maryland. But when Dan Nagle saw the destruction Hurricane Sandy left just a day after the storm, he decided to do something more to help his hometown community.
Nagle asked friends and family in Maryland to post on Facebook to gather donations he could deliver. The community quickly offered any and all help. Within days he, along with the help of some friends had over ten drop off locations throughout Southern Maryland filled with donations.
Overwhelmed with donations, Nagle asked a family friend and Toms River resident, Dave McIndoe, for help in receiving and distributing the piles of clothes, cleaning supplies and food. As President of NetWave Interactive Marketing in Point Pleasant Beach and board member of the 200 Club of Ocean County, McIndoe quickly worked his network of friends and professionals. The 200 Club of Ocean County handled the monetary donations, helping first responders, EMT’s, police and firemen who suffered their own losses due to Hurricane Sandy, while helping the community during and after the storm.
McIndoe also reached out to his long-term client, The Perlmutter Family ShopRite. The Perlmutters, life-long Ocean County residents and operators of seven ShopRites in the effected area, quickly lent a hand. With the help of Fischer Blvd. (Toms River) Store Manager Joe Sharkey and Wakefern’s Ted Schlemovitz they loaned two ShopRite trailers for the cause. Toms River East Little League offered their parking lot space for the trucks and their clubhouse as a distribution point.
Nagle and about a dozen volunteers brought the donations up to New Jersey in a convoy of six vehicles. Together, Maryland and New Jersey volunteers unloaded the items into three tractor trailers. Food donations are headed to The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, who will handle distribution to their area partners. Monetary donations are being distributed to local first responders, EMT’s, police and firefighters affected first hand by the storm, through the 200 Club of Ocean County.
“Our biggest challenge now is to equitably distribute the clothing, toiletries, cleaning supplies and other donations to needy families,” explains McIndoe. “The outpouring of support from our friends in Maryland is overwhelming. The volunteers at the Toms River East Little League have been fantastic,” he adds. The indoor facility, at 2195 Windsor Ave, is open Monday – Friday from 5-8pm and Saturday & Sunday from 9am-1pm. Further clothing and dry goods donations are not being accepted at this time.
Monetary donations can still be sent to the 200 Club of Ocean County Sandy Relief Fund, P.O. Box 1749, Point Pleasant, NJ 08742. All donations will go to the first responders whose homes were damaged or lost during Sandy.
