Grover’s Mill Coffee House in West Windsor’s Southfield Shopping Center may not seem to have much in common with the New Jersey shore, but in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy it became a focal point of a shore relief effort mounted by volunteers from both Plainsboro and West Windsor.
The catalysts for the effort: Eva and Rodney Hargis and their friend Valerie Ramos, who refused to stand by while Hurricane Sandy stole the homes and earthly possessions of so many people in the path of this devastating storm. They joined forces, and in barely a week’s time they formed Sand Aid NJ, registered it as a non-profit corporation with the state, organized a website, and enlisted the support of fire departments from three towns and nine bands for their first benefit concert and fundraiser.
“Two days after the storm, with broken hearts and a desire to serve, we came up with the idea for Sand Aid NJ in the hopes that we could do something to help those in need,” says co-founder Rodney Hargis. “We created a Facebook page for the cause and asked our friends to spread the word to their friends. Within a few days, we met with several interested folks for our first organizational meeting.”
In their “day jobs,” Rodney Hargis is an analyst at Mercer County Community College and Eva acts as the hair diva at Salon Pure on Palmer Square in Princeton. But they also moonlight as musicians in a group called 3.26. They play once a month at the Grover’s Mill Coffee House. With that connection they contacted Franc Gambatese and Mickey Defranco, owners of Grover’s Mill Coffee House, who quickly agreed to act as a sponsor and venue for the event.
Ramos, from West Windsor, runs a photography business that is primarily New Jersey shore-related, taking her from Asbury Park to Seaside Heights. Along with the assistance of several other volunteers, the group organized the event in less than a week.
With the help of the owners of Grover’s Mill, they developed a distribution system by turning to another natural part of community structure — the fire departments in Plainsboro, West Windsor, and Princeton Junction. No one seemed to know exactly how many people showed up, but Eva Hargis noted that there were probably a few hundred throughout the day. “There was a constant stream of people from the moment the concert began at 11:11 a.m. till it ended at 5 p.m. Many stayed for the music and many dropped off canned foods, cleaning supplies and clothing.
Over a dozen fire trucks were filled with goods from the surrounding area. Plainsboro Fire Chief James Pedley says “that even though there wasn’t an official system to handle a disaster this huge, it was because of strong community relations between fire departments, family, and friends that we are able to respond where needed.” In less than 12 hours after the first donations were dropped off at the benefit, the goods were directly in the hands of those who needed them.
Community businesses donated goods and services from beauty to artwork. Each person who donated food, clothing or money, was offered a raffle ticket. Chief Pedley’s daughter, Alexa, 9, was a busy volunteer, picking the winning names from the bag of raffle tickets.
Ten musical groups entertained the crowd throughout the day. Acts included Ragtime Relics, Mark McManus, Main Entry, Jim Arkus, Claire Rodriguez, CJ Barna and Franc Gambatese, Lore Constantine, Kevin Allen and the Lonely Teardrops, and Last Band Standing. The actual “last band standing” was 3.26 with Eva and Rodney Hargis. They thanked the crowd, the firemen, the folks at Grover’s Mill Coffee House, and all the volunteers as the sun set on the day.
Sand Aid NJ repeated its fundraising efforts on Saturday, November 24, also at the Grover’s Mill Coffee House. The second Sand Aid NJ Benefit featured music by three acts benefitted the Community Food Bank.
