Baptists Find Buried ‘Treasures’ Beneath Boardwalk

WILDWOOD — A group of more than 40 American Baptist volunteers found themselves beneath Wildwood’s world famous Boardwalk on Aug. 16 and 17 as they completed their final week of “Coming Together for New Jersey – Rebuild, Renew and Restore.” The multiple week program was developed by the American Baptist Home Mission Societies and American Baptist Churches of New Jersey in response to Hurricane Sandy.
Denise Gratzel, Disaster Response Coordinator for the American Baptist Church, found herself removing debris left behind by the storm as well as helping remove weeds. In addition to clean-up, the group was also searching for personal effects washed from homes during the October storm and left beneath the boardwalk. “We found a driver’s license and pictures,” said Gratzel, noting any personal effects found would be given to the Mayor’s Office in order for them to be returned to their owners. According to Gratzel, the majority of items were found by sifting through sand close to the walls of the boardwalk.
Another volunteer, Woody Curtis of Camden, Delaware, was familiar with disaster recovery, having volunteered in Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “It is an outreach,” commented Curtis of the volunteers. “From a spiritual dimension, if you feel that God has called you to reach out to people in ways that are far beyond your imagination, it is definitely an outreach.”
In addition to searching for washed away personal effects, the group’s agenda also included the restoration of three beach walkways across the city’s beach, thereby allowing easy ocean access to all visitors.