Honor and Recognition: A six-year Tradition for Ocean Club Hotel
On the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 26, the Ocean Club Hotel was once again joined by Gold Star families of fallen heroes for the sixth year running. These families, and others, gather in Cape May each year to reflect, remember, and honor servicemen and women, including those in their own families, who perished during the GWOT (Global War on Terror). They do so through the NJ Run for the Fallen, an organization that puts on a 190+ mile run over four days each year with a mission to raise awareness for all NJ service members who gave their lives during the GWOT.
Before the NJ Run for the Fallen grew to be the nationally recognized organization it is today, Ocean Club Hotel’s late owner, Nick Nezaj, was asked to donate rooms for two Gold Star families by the organization’s local contact, Eileen Kreis. Afterward, Nezaj received a message from a Gold Star mother through Ms. Kreis. That note inspired what has become an Ocean Club Hotel / NJ Run for the Fallen six-year tradition, and grew from those original two Gold Star families to eight families joining the Ocean Club Hotel this year. The note Nezaj received was as follows:
“Last year I was at the Ocean Club and they were so nice there. I don’t know if you remember but the ceremony at Sunset Beach was on the eve of Ryan’s one-year anniversary. Sept 28, 2011 was his crash. The run was on the actual day. I was by myself. The Ocean Club put me in a beachfront room. So at midnight I was sitting on the balcony watching and listening to the waves as Sept. 28 turned at midnight. Ryan’s new birthday in heaven. 🙂 Although painful it was soothing and comforting for me. Ryan loves the ocean like I do.” – Donna Iannelli, Gold Star Mother
Event participants began the memorial run in Lower Township at Sunset Beach on Thursday, Sept. 27 and headed north up the coast to finish on Sunday, Sept. 30 at Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel, Monmouth County.
For more information on the 2018 event, which was held Sept. 26-30, visit njrunforthefallen.org. For more information on the hotel, visit oceanclubhotel.com. To donate services, reach out to Eileen Kreis at eileen@njrunforthefallen.org.
