By MADDY VITALE
When Ocean City’s Ferguson-Foglio VFW Post 6650 needed a new roof, business leaders and community members got together to make sure it happened.
And it was at no cost to the post.
Like many service organizations, COVID-19 restrictions led to cancellations of all the events, dinners, breakfasts and fundraisers that help pay for the maintenance of the post’s building, constructed at 1501 Bay Avenue in the 1940s.
Residents Brian Broadley, owner of Broadley’s Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning in Marmora, and Scott Halliday, owner of Halliday-Leonard, a general contracting firm in Ocean City, stepped up to help out without thinking twice.
Rather than ask the post, which has 200 members, to pay back the funds, Broadley set up a GoFundMe page that went live Tuesday and has already received more than $6,000 in donations at https://gf.me/u/yrgxv3.
But there is a lot more money that needs to be raised to pay for the project. The goal is $75,000.
Post Commander Mike Morrissey said the generosity of the community, and especially by Broadley and Halliday, is greatly appreciated and needed at this time.
“The funds are at the lowest they have been since I’ve been commander for eight or nine years,” Morrissey said. “Brian (Broadley) and Scott (Halliday), are awesome Americans. If it weren’t for them and the mayor (Jay Gillian), the VFW Post would not be the success it is today.”
Morrissey noted that during the installation of the roof over the last year, he along with other post members didn’t have to do anything but watch in amazement.
“I went up there one day and it made me feel great. These are the guys we all feel we have an obligation to. These are the guys we serve,” he noted of Broadley and Halliday. “This year, with COVID, it would have been tough to do the roof. We didn’t have to pay a dime. There aren’t too many places that will put a roof on for you without money first.”
When Morrissey talked to Broadley about the roof in a recent meeting, Broadley told him about the idea for a GoFundMe page.
Christina Tolson, marketing manager for Broadley’s, set up the page.
“They would normally hold beef-and-beer events, golf tournaments, breakfasts and other social gatherings to raise money for their non-profit, which obviously they cannot do right now and haven’t been able to since March,” Tolson said of Post 6650. “We know $75,000 is a hefty goal.”
The funds would cover the cost of the new roof and other exterior renovations that are needed to the building, she explained.
Post 6650 has been a cornerstone of the community since the 1940s. It was organized by a group of WWII veterans upon returning home. In 1958 the post expanded and in 2020, it has 200 members.
Morrissey said he and other VFW members are eager to get back to doing what they love — helping the community and working with other organizations.
One such organization the post has worked with is the non-profit OCNJ CARE, charged by the mayor and chaired by resident Drew Fasy. During the COVID crisis, the two organizations worked together. The post made meals to feed families suffering during the tough economic times since the pandemic.
During the year, ordinarily the post also offers a host of activities. Every year it sponsors a military family to stay in Ocean City at a residence for a weeklong vacation. It also offers the post facilities and assists with the Walk for the Wounded and Run for the Fallen. These events were all canceled this summer.
“We are proud of what we do. This is a difficult time right now because our income has been cut off. In the summer we always have stuff going on. That is how we make our money,” Morrissey noted.
He continued, “We partnered up with OCNJ CARE. Drew called me and I said, ‘We are in. What do you need me to do?’ We are a service organization. This is what we do. The community takes care of us so much and that is our way to say thank you. We’ll get back to it again.”
