Gifts donated for the annual toy drive conducted by Hazlet-based Reaching All in Need Everyday (RAINE) will be distributed to families throughout the Bayshore area. This year the nonprofit expects to double the number of families helped to include those impacted by superstorm Sandy. Below: RAINE founder Patti Dickens, President Mike Fabozzi and founder Matt Dickens display a flag Dec. 5 that was found among the rubble in Union Beach after superstorm Sandy devastated the town. During the 2001 holiday season, Patti Dickens helped a Hazlet family that had been affected by the events of Sept. 11.
That marked the beginning of the RAINE (Reaching All in Need Everyday) Foundation, which provides food, clothing and other assistance for families in crisis.
RAINE helps members of the communities of Hazlet, Aberdeen, Matawan, Keyport, Union Beach, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands. Last December, the organization delivered presents to approximately 350 families, which included about 1,500 children. This year, the number is expected to double due to superstorm Sandy.
“Christmas is our biggest season,” said Dickens.
But this year, RAINE has been active since Sandy struck on Oct. 29.
“My husband, Matt, and I were sitting at home when the Hazlet OEM [Office of Emergency Management] came to the door and said they needed help,” recalled Dickens, who had no phone service at the time due to the storm. Several families were evacuated to Beers Street School and RAINE provided help. The next day, they helped people who were evacuated to Holy Family School on Route 36.
Within a few days of the storm, the organization was helping people daily at Hazlet’s Beers Street School. Eventually, the school reopened, so RAINE partnered with several other organizations, including the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, to form the Beacon of Hope. Located on Route 35 in the building formerly occupied by the Children’s Wearhouse, the Beacon of Hope formed a distribution center for donations, clothing and supplies for the Bayshore area.
“In the beginning, we were reaching out to first responders, [police] and [firefighters] and the immediate people that came and needed food, and one thing led to another,” said RAINE President Mike Fabozzi. Word began to spread. The shelters that were opening in area schools, as well as some of the adult communities that were housing people, learned that RAINE was providing hot food and volunteers to deliver the food. These groups reached out to RAINE for assistance.
Those who had access to the Internet learned about RAINE from its Facebook page and website.
“I thank God every day that we got that website going and we built the Facebook page up previous to Sandy,” Fabozzi said. “It helped tremendously. This is how we grew after the storm.”
“We posted on Facebook that we needed eggs and we got three dozen eggs,” said Dickens.
During the height of the Sandy crisis, RAINE served approximately 20,000 meals per day.
“Community organizations were stepping up to the plate before the Red Cross and FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] came to help the people,” he said. “[The Red Cross] came to us asking, ‘How are you distributing these? How are you getting these numbers? Where are you going?’ ”
“We had a day or two of transition where we slowed down our cooking, and any orders that we got, we would direct to the Red Cross. Patti Dickens would go with the Red Cross into the field and literally show them where we were going,” said Fabozzi. RAINE provided contacts for the area schools, first aid squads and firehouses that were feeding people. RAINE then had to identify what the next immediate crisis was, said Fabozzi.
The organization continued with the Beacon of Hope as it began its annual Thanksgiving drive.
“This Thanksgiving, we were trying to locate families. We had an army out in the field going door-to-door figuring out who is in need, who is going on the list. We were registering people at their doors,” said Fabozzi. “A lot people did say, ‘Help others, help the ones in need.’ We would say ‘But you guys really do need it.’ It’s amazing how many people said that to us.”
During the Thanksgiving drive, RAINE realized what a challenge the holiday toy drive would become.
The Beacon of Hope has now ended and RAINE has taken over the former Children’s Wearhouse building in Hazlet.
“We are going to have our central command there for the holidays and that is where we will do the toy drive,” said Fabozzi. “In the past, we would do that at Beers Street School. We were given a few classrooms to store the presents. Every night we would go there and put everything out in the gym.”
At the end of the night, volunteers would return everything to the classrooms. With the increase in presents donated, he said, it would have been difficult to organize the drive in the same way.
“We’re lucky to have that warehouse this year,” said Fabozzi. “We are trying to branch out. The need is a lot broader this year.”
He added that the extra room has given RAINE the ability to accept partners.
One of those partners is Michael O’Hea, a Union Beach resident who, beginning two days after the storm, ran a distribution center out of his house for his neighbors affected by Sandy. As the days passed, he began to ask people if they would need help during the holidays. Most said no, but then letters to Santa began to appear in his mailbox, O’Hea said. RAINE is one of the organizations helping to fulfill the requests.
RAINE has also been receiving names from firehouses. Previously, RAINE’s Christmas list came mostly from school nurses.
“The challenge this year is finding where the people are. There are a lot of families staying with other families, out of the Bayshore area and even out of state,” said Fabozzi. “We have sent gift cards out of state to families that were from Union Beach that we were in contact with.
“We have a lot of resources. … We have an army of volunteers. What we have seen since the storm is a community that’s come together and it’s not just Hazlet, it’s Union Beach, Middletown, Holmdel, Keyport, Keansburg, Aberdeen, Cliffwood, Atlantic Highlands. All these Bayshore towns have come together and whoever hasn’t been affected helps out. And the people that have been affected help out. It’s amazing,” said Fabozzi. “With that network, we’re able to branch out and we’re able to help a lot more people than in the past.”
The nonprofit organization estimates it will deliver 20,000- 25,000 gifts this holiday season.
Donations of new clothes and new toys will be accepted until Dec. 15 and volunteers are needed to help sort and wrap presents through Dec. 18. For more information on donating, volunteering or requesting help from RAINE, visit facebook.com/RaineFoundation or http://rainefoundation.com.