South Carolina Town Returns Favor To Toms River For Hurricane Help [AUDIO]

After Hurricane Hugo struck the town of McClellanville, SC, Toms River worked together to help by donating money and resources, and they are now returning the favor post-Sandy.

In 1983, when Hurricane Hugo struck in South Carolina, Townsquare Media led the charge in raising money as well as delivering important supplies. After seeing the devastation Sandy laid, the South Carolina town of only 500 began collecting funds; managing to raise a whopping 118,000 dollars.

"Right off, we knew there was people that we knew that was in trouble. We said 'we got to do something.' We just put the word out and the story got picked up in the news media pretty quickly, and money started coming in," says McClellanville mayor Rutledge Layland.

Rutledge says they originally planned on raising between $10,000 and $15,000, but then received $100,000 from a anonymous contributor.

Layland says he spoke with Toms River Mayor Tom Kelaher on how best to spend the money. The funds will go to the Toms River School's Hurricane Relief Fun.

The effort to raise money for Toms River started as soon as the storm hit, and the mayor notes most of the initiative came from the residents themselves.

"We've provided a little bit of leadership through the town here but there were a lot of other things that went on, including some personal contacts. People went out with pickup trucks, generators, as well as water and food."

Even though Hurricane Hugo hit twenty three years ago, Layland says they still remember it every day.

"We still talk about it, it's become a verb around here. 'That got Hugo'ed'"

And they also remember the support given to them from Toms River and Townsquare Media, which Layland notes there is a bond between the two communities .

" Time changes everything but it's certainly not going to be anything we forget for a long time."