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Health & Fitness

Union Beach Sandy Relief Volunteers from the Presbyterian Church in Morristown

Rebuilding efforts and upcoming volunteer work days for the PCM Sandy Relief Task Force's Union Beach, NJ project.

On April 6, forty PCM members and community friends traveled to Union Beach for a work day as part of the Sandy Relief Task Force, established by The Presbyterian Church in Morristown's Outreach Committee. They made progress repairing three homes as well as planting sea grass on the sandy shore of Raritan Bay. $3,000.00 in gift cards went along with these volunteers and was used to purchase the materials needed to repair the homes (sheetrock, insulation etc).

"At first we were nervous about going---not knowing what was expected of us and the situation at Union Beach we were encountering. When we met the homeowner, we immediately felt a sense of calmness.  She was happy and excited to receive our help.  We (The volunteer team) started working and it all  "clicked".  There was a "vibe" ---an "energy"----we worked together as a team! There was a common understanding and a common goal.  We left feeling fantastic with a sense of accomplishment for this  family ( a single mom with 3 daughters age 7 and under).  In one day, we gave her a "huge" leap in recovering an unusable space damaged by the storm. As a mother and daughter, we worked hard together.  We got tired and hungry together.  We made new friends with other members.  We felt great about what we learned and what we did. "  - Betty Darcy and Julia Darcy 

Upcoming work days in Union Beach are planned for April 27,  May 7, May 18 with more dates planned each month for the foreseeable future.  Please check this page regularly to keep up on activity in Union Beach. To sign up for a trip, click here.  A typical work day runs approximately from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  We will meet at the Parish House (65 South Street, Morristown) at 7:30 a.m. and carpool to Union Beach, arriving at the Union Beach Borough Building (650 Poole Ave, Union Beach) no later than 9 a.m. We will return to the Parish House at approximately 6 p.m.  

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"I had a fabulous time working with our group and being part of improving someone’s life, even if we didn't get it all finished."  Sherry Guthrie

Recovery and rebuilding from Sandy will take years.  All of us can help.
*Work - join us on work projects.
*Pray - Prayers are needed for those living with effects of Sandy every day, and for those working towards recovery and rebuilding.
*Give -  100% of this money goes to those who need it most, no overhead.  Make checks out to the Presbyterian Church in Morristown with Sandy Relief in the note. 

Find out what's happening in Morristownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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