Jetty Rock Foundation donates school supplies to kids affected by Superstorm Sandy

The Jetty Rock Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Jetty brand, recently donated more than $10,000 in school supplies to 86 students from Little Egg Harbor, Stafford, Barnegat and LBI school districts who had been affected by Superstorm Sandy.

Supplies came in the form of binders, notebooks, pencils and stickers, as

Photo by Darcy Kolodziej
Ryan Kolodziej is ecstatic to
receive school supplies from
the Jetty Rock Foundation.

well as a $100 gift certificate to one of the area’s three surf shops that carry Jetty apparel, including Surf Unlimited, The Surf Shack and Farias Surf and Sport. One Southern Regional High School student was even given a brand new Apple computer. About 30 children also received a backpack from Farias, which were donated by Roxy and Volcom.

Ryann Kolodziej, 8, of Ship Bottom was one of the children to receive those supplies.

“It made me really happy,” said Kolodziej. “I cried because I was so happy,” she added in between full sobs.

Kolodziej’s home was affected by Sandy last year and a few months later burnt down during a fire. Kolodziejc’s mother, Darcy, even lost her job as a Southern Regional Middle School teacher at the end of the school year in June. The two are currently renting a home in Ship Bottom, but their lease is up in February. They hope to move back into their home in April.

Although Jetty aided Darcy with her home after the fire, she said receiving help from the organization that was directed toward her daughter was “overwhelming and appreciated.”

“What they’re doing is just unbelievable. It really is,” she added.

Ann Coen, president of Jetty Rock, said the foundation is committed to helping the community in any way possible and that offering schools supplies to local kids is just one of the ways it hopes to help.

“We really tried to give to the hardest hit kids and focus on the kids who might have had it a little tough so they could get something special that they wouldn’t normally be able to get,” said Coen. “It was a risk because we knew that we might forget some people or some people might be missed because obviously we don’t know everyone, but we wanted to take the risk of helping some and not none,” she explained.

Jetty Rock is especially keen on helping area children, some of whom who will grow up to live and work within the surrounding communities.

“Basically what we want for everybody that we donate to for Jetty Rock is really just that pay it forward mentality,” said Coen. “Hopefully one day they’ll be able to help somebody else and hopefully they come out and volunteer when Jetty does at their next event, whether it’s dune planting or whatever. We hope we see those kids getting more involved just to have fun and be a part of the community,” she added.

Kolodziej said she definitely plans to take part in helping clean up the community.

“This kid has been through so much in the past couple years, and the fact that she’s able to wake up every morning with a smile, not upset or anxious, is because of the little things,” said Darcy. “It’s making her learn a huge life lesson so early. At 8 years old she’s learning the importance of giving back and being there for someone else in need. That impact is not something that too many 8-years-olds learn. It truly makes these kids appreciate what they’re being given, and they want to help others out. That’s something that can’t be taught in schools. The kids have to feel it; they have to experience it themselves. The storm really affected a lot of people, and these kids are going to be little Jetty-ites.”

— Kelley Anne Essinger


This article was published in The SandPaper.