Cloverleaf Selling Stockings to Help Sandy Survivors

The Cloverleaf Tavern is hanging stockings up for the holidays to help survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

The Caldwell pub and restaurant launched a fundraiser in which patrons can personalize a paper stocking for a $5 donation. The stockings will be displayed behind the bar. 

Cloverleaf manager Tina Hamilton conceived of the idea as a way to give back to those whose holidays may not be as merry because of the storm that devastated the Jersey Shore last month.

“I wanted to do something because I spent all my summers down there as a kid,” Hamilton said.

The design and printing was donated by Wegman Associates of Fairfield.

Chris Wegman and Bob Hazekanp, partners of the printing company, both have beach homes in Cape May County.

Although their area of the Shore was mostly unscathed, they said they sympathize with what people are going through.

“What better way for those that were more fortunate in the storm’s wake to help those that really experienced the brunt of the storm’s destruction?” Cloverleaf Tavern’s Operating Partner Ryan Dorchak said in a release. 

The Cloverleaf has been very successful with this type of fundraising in the past. According to Dorchak, “Our customers have always responded well. It’s a real testament to the quality of people we serve.”

Stockings will be available through the end of the year. Dorchak said he will donate 100 percent of the money collected to a charity that's directly helping Jersey Shore residents.