'Miracle' Raises $15,000 for Sandy Relief

About 600 people helped raise more than $15,000 on Sunday afternoon for OCNJ CARE — the volunteer organization coordinating Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in Ocean City.

Admission to the "Miracle on 11th Street" event at the Flanders Hotel was by donation, and the community event included music and entertainment, food stations, a gingerbread house contest and a DJ for kids in the hotel's Garden Room. 

OCNJ CARE Chairperson Drew Fasy said the event was made possible through the generosity of the Flanders, which donated banquet rooms, food and staffing.

Karen Bergman, director of catering for the Flanders, initially approached OCNJ CARE and said the hotel was "blessed" to have suffered relatively little storm damage and wanted to give back to the community, according to Fasy.

Bergman's offer set in motion an 18-day planning blitz that included the work of Pete Voudouris (president of the Flanders hotel and condo association), Bergman, Anne Sloan, Ken Cooper, Carol Heenan, Dawn Vanderslice, Jennifer Bowman, Laurie Howey and Shawnda McGinnis.

Everything for the event was donated by the Flanders, by local merchants and by entertainers such as the local rock band 123 Draw.