Rotary Raises $25G for Hoboken Charter School

A charity event held at the Turtle Club earlier this week raised almost $25,000 for to help the Hoboken Charter School rebuild its school, which was heavily damaged by a fire. 

The Hoboken Rotary officially organized the event, which attracted roughly 500 guests. 

"I looked out my windowand saw the school on fire, and it looked bad,” said Rory Chadwick, whose store Midtown Authentic is across the street. Chadwick, a Rotarian who helped organize Tuesday's event, added: "when I found out the inside was ruined I called my fellow Rotarians and got to work. It's not easy to do this in such a shortamount of time but when Rotary members work as a team we can do anything."

Dozens of local businesses donated raffle and auction prizes and posted collection jars in their stores. Some of the prizes included signed sports memorabilia from football stars Eli Manning, Ray Rice and Troy Polamalu, game tickets, artwork, theater tickets, music memorabilia and a Hudson River cruise.

"I hope that our students see that it is possible to overcome adversity with hard work, commitment and team work," said the school's director, Deirdre Grode.