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Community Corner

Town Pulls Together For Storm Victims

At Central Regional, at Little League and elsewhere, residents who were affected less by Hurricane Sandy are helping those whose lives are upside down

They walked in, some families, others just in pairs, and stood in the entryway of Central Regional High School with that questioning look on their faces.

Then they asked one question, the same question: "How can I help?"

While relief efforts are beginning to arrive, local residents are pulling together to help those within Berkeley who have been so deeply affected by Hurricane Sandy. Some restaurants have been cooking up the food in their freezers and giving it away so that it doesn't go to waste.

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The high school opened as a shelter on Friday, along with the clubhouse at Silver Ridge Park West, to give those who are still without power a warm place to sleep and be sheltered as the recovery continues.

The Red Cross is scheduled to arrive this morning to provide cots and other items to help those who need it, said Dr. Triantifilos Parlapanides, the superintendent of the Central Regional district.

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While residents filled the hallways near the gymnasium with donations of everything from blankets and towels to baby food and diapers, across town at the Berkeley Little League complex, volunteers were cooking hamburgers and fries and serving hot food to people who were facing a fourth night without power.

"It was the first thing I thought of," said Michelle Delaney, one of the Little League's board members, who was without power for five hours. "We have a gold mine here" of food, she said, leftover from the summer season, and it made more sense to cook it and feed people with it than to let it go to waste.

The Little League opened its concession stand Thursday from 4-8 p.m. and had about 50 people stop by, President Bob Everett said. On Friday night, however, volunteers fed more than 200 people, as word got out of the league's efforts.

The Little League will be feeding people again tonight from 4-8 p.m. at the complex on Moorage Avenue, he said. They have had support from various businesses, including ShopRite and Martell's Water's Edge restaurant, which dropped off its food on Thursday, rather than have go to waste.

Fevola's Pizza has been giving out free pizzas to those without power, so they can have a hot meal. And the Anchor Inn served dozens of people in Ocean Gate on Friday as its owners, Casimir Golda and son Frank, cooked its inventory so it wouldn't go to waste, Jennifer Golda, Frank's wife, said.

Offers of help and support have started flowing in as well, to various groups. Golda said the inn got a call from a woman in Ohio offering to make a donation to pay for the food they were feeding to residents. Everett said he's gotten calls and text messages from people he doesn't know, from all over, offering to send donations. And Central Regional is expecting at least one tractor-trailer of donations today from either Delaware or Kentucky -- all from people who want to help those suffering in Sandy's wake. The tractor-trailer had been expected Friday night, but stopped at the Island Heights Firehouse for the night to get organized for delivery today.

Some of the volunteers were there helping despite their own difficult circumstances. James DeGraaf, who owns Bayville Carpet and Flooring, said the roof of the small shopping center that housed his business as well as others -- Tony's Pizza, FurBallz pet grooming and more -- was peeled off by Sandy's winds. He's been working during the day to repair what he can of his business. But he was at the Little League field helping to cook for others Friday night.

"Hopefully the insurance is enough to replace what was there," he said of the business.

"This is what the American spirit is all about," said Kevin Lees, whose home on Harborage Drive remained without power on Friday night and came to the Little League complex for hot food for himself and his wife, accompanied by son Vincent. "People helping people."

Lees, who participated in the cleanup efforts at Ground Zero after the 9-11 attacks, said the cleanup after Sandy is similar in that it seems so overwhelming.

"The devastation (after 9-11) was so widespread we thought we'd never get it cleaned up," Lees said. "But we did. If we can go through that, we can get through this."

Residents weren't just bringing donations to Central Regional, however. Clothing donations filled the Berkeley Recreation bus, parked at the township's recreation center, where residents without power were being given water and ice to help them get through the coming days.

Distribution of water and ice was to resume at 9 a.m. today at the Recreation Center on Route 9, said Mayor Carmen Amato, who spent much of Friday at the center helping to coordinate distribution efforts and talking to residents who are struggling in the wake of the storm. The rec center is located across the street from the John Hill Insurance Agency.

The cooperation among the various groups was evident as well. Everett said the Little League could not have done what it did without the help and support of Amato.

"We appreciate the mayor's leadership and support in this crisis," Everett said.

And he in turn did what he could to help the shelter efforts, calling Parlapanides to ask what the school needed and what the league could do to help.

"Just get the word out," Parlapanides told him. "Let people know we are here."

Volunteers are needed to help sort donations and assist those coming to the shelter at the high school. And while there is plenty of clothing right now, donations of school supplies -- pencils, pens, notebooks, and backpacks, especially for older students -- will be needed in the coming days.

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