Hometown Heroes Aids NJ Families In Crisis [AUDIO]

There's no slow down for a New Jersey-based charity that has partnered with Townsquare Media to help storm survivors, even as Sandy disappears from the national headlines.

Toms River-based Hometown Heroes began in 2008, according to Founder Mike Schwartz with a simple mission statement.

"In a nutshell, is to help people in a crisis."

Schwartz says they've intentionally stayed vague about ways they can help people.

"We've helped anyone from the homeless, to the elderly with food, we secured a funeral for a family a few years ago. It's very non-specific."

He says since Superstorm Sandy they've been helping thousands of people in crises. However, he says, it seems most of the world has forgotten that the Northeast Coast was devastated by a named storm and donations have fallen off tremendously.

"We need to remind people that there are thousands of people in need and this is not a short term fix. This is going to be a ten year process to get those people back to normalcy."

Schwartz says Hometown Heroes is governed by a 19-member board and they have hundreds of volunteers. He says when they talk about Hometown Heroes it's the people in the community who are the heroes.

"It's not us. It's the people who step up to do the right thing to help others."

There are a number of events where you can volunteer, including a record-breaking Sandy Castle building project in Point Pleasant.

The non-profit teamed up with Townsquare Media to raise money for Sandy Relief efforts, outreach projects and has even set up a joint web site to serve as a clearing house of information for Restore the Shore projects online.

Get Hometown Heroes details on their website or Facebook page. You can also reach Hometown Heroes at 732-473-9400.