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Community Corner

Battered Seaside Heights Elementary Receives Help from Volunteers

Verizon employees to help restore Boyd Elementary, which was damaged by Superstorm Sandy

More than 160 Verizon employees will lend a hand to help restore Seaside Heights' elementary school, which was battered by Superstorm Sandy. 

Hugh J. Boyd Jr. Elementary School sustained flooding during the storm and the 230 students enrolled there have called Central Regional High School home since. Volunteers from Verizon will give their time Thursday to help repair the school during a program organized by Jersey Cares. 

"Hurricane Sandy affected everyone in New Jersey in some way, and this project gives our employees a great chance to contribute their time and talents to getting Hugh J. Boyd Jr. Elementary School back into shape," said Jayne Mayer, director of employee engagement at the Verizon Foundation, in a statement. 

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The volunteers — newly-hired college graduates chosen to join the Verizon Leadership Development Program — will paint, tend to landscaping, build picnic tables for an outdoor learning area and even build benches to be installed along the borough's boardwalk, according to Lee Gierczynski, media relations manager for Verizon. 

The elementary school students' classes were moved to Central Regional High School's history wing. Damage to the school is estimated at about $1.2 million, according to an Asbury Park Press report. 

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Seaside Heights Mayor William Akers, who will be at the school for the restoration effort, thanked Verizon and Jersey Cares for dedicating their time. 

"While our community continues to recover from the effects of Sandy, the dedicated work of these volunteers shows that Seaside Heights is on its way back and will be better than ever," he said in a statement. 

Brian Dean, executive director of the nonprofit Jersey Cares said that it is "wonderful" to see a company grant its employees a workday spent on volunteerism. 

"Many people want to help the shore region get back on its feet, and volunteering is a heartfelt contribution that provides a tangible result at the end of the day," he said in a statement. 

The three bus loads of volunteers will arrive in Seaside Heights at about 10 a.m., where they'll work until about 3 p.m., according to Gierczynski. 

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