Long Valley Business Gives Helping Hand To Ida-Impacted Families

LONG VALLEY, NJ - A Long Valley hardware store and garden center hosted a pop-up donation event on Tuesday to collect some necessities for 300 families from the nearby community of Manville, uprooted from their homes because of Ida’s floods.

President Joe Biden toured New Jersey’s flooded areas including Manville on Tuesday with Gov. Phil Murphy, with numerous Somerset County roads including Manville’s Dukes Parkway East still closed after Ida damaged them.

Manville has been riddled with other issues since Ida’s flood, including house fires that have been difficult to reach because of flood waters and two explosions, one at the former Rhythm’s Nightclub and the other in a Manville residence.

Biden commented about homes destroyed in Manville by gas leaks because of the flooding, as well as the damaged infrastructure, stating, “My thoughts are with all those families affected by the storm and all those families who lost loved ones.”

For Anne Marie Harrington who co-owns Long Valley’s Hoffman’s Supply with her husband, Michael, the idea to collect items for people-in-need came to her mind in the middle of the night Sunday, from seeing post after post on Facebook of the damage in Manville.

Harrington said she graduated high school in Somerville, with her brother and sister-in-law Manville residents who have battled minor flooding at their home.

After speaking to a friend on Sunday and seeing posts on Facebook from different people talking about the unbelievable flooding, Harrington said she first spoke to her husband about the possibility of hosting a pop-up donation center and then put the idea into action on Tuesday, when Hoffman’s Supply reopened after the Labor Day weekend.

She described it as one of those ideas that “keeps popping up in front of you,” with seeing the posts and hearing about the devastation from her friend.

“As a family that owns a local business, we have a the location to do this [the pop-up donation center] and the space,” said Harrington, who added that the couple regularly collects items at their business for the Long Valley Food Pantry.

“Long Valley has always been so generous and they came through,” Harrington said of the items the community dropped off for Manville.

Harrington said after receiving a generous outpouring of supplies on Tuesday, they will continue to collect items at their business, located at 35 East Mill Road, through Saturday, Sept. 11. They asked that people dropping things off for Manville, mark them accordingly, because of their separate drive for the food pantry.

The business will be accepting the following new items for their flood relief drive:

• Baby diapers, wipes and formula
• Cleaning supplies, including mops, gloves, disinfectant, paper towels and toilet paper
• Toiletries including hand sanitizer, shampoos, hair conditioners, feminine hygiene products
• New packages of underwear and socks
• Bottled water
• Non-perishable foods, that don't need heating

The Harringtons will hand-deliver donations that they receive to three community groups within Manville that are accepting items directly.

For information and updates about Hoffman’s supply drive, visit their Facebook Page here or call 908-876-3111.

Reporting contributed by Alexis Tarrazi

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.