Baptists to Remove Sandy Remnants from Under the Boardwalk

WILDWOOD – The City of Wildwood will welcome more than 60 volunteers from the American Baptist Church Aug. 15 and Aug. 16. The cadre of volunteers will participate in helping to remove remnants of Hurricane Sandy beneath the city’s world-famous Boardwalk and along the beach.
Bringing the group to Wildwood was the work of local residents Lisa Brocco-Collia, Southern New Jersey Regional Sandy Coordinator and her colleague, Jayson Rempo.
Members of the church group hail from throughout the United States. Members include representatives from New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Florida, to name a few.
“I explained we’ve been forgotten down here,” said Brocco-Collia, referring to post-Sandy clean-up efforts. “Every day we find people who have been affected by Sandy.”
According to Brocco-Collia, on Aug. 15 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. volunteers are scheduled to walk along the edge of the Boardwalk as well as beneath it looking for the remains of personal effects that might have been washed from homes flooded by the storm. If possible, items found will be returned to their owners. In addition to finding and returning personal effects the group will also remove debris left behind from Sandy’s wrath as well as other trash and weeds.
On Aug. 16, the same volunteers will install three beach paths that were washed away during the October hurricane. These wooden paths reach out from the Boardwalk, across the city’s wide beach, allowing beachgoers access to the water’s edge.
“We are fortunate that we were spared the wrath of Sandy,” said Commissioner Pete Byron. The commissioner oversees the city’s beach services. “While we were spared, we appreciate the volunteers sprucing up the area under the Boardwalk.”