Herald Neighbors

East Rockaway foundation's Pub crawl raises nearly $10,000 for Texas relief

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More than 220 people came out to the East Rockaway waterfront for The11518’s second annual pub crawl on Sept. 30.
“It went great,” said Dan Caracciolo, event organizer and co-founder of The11518, a local volunteer group formed in 2012 that provided relief after Hurricane Sandy. “We had a great day.”
Participants were able to enjoy food and drink specials at Michael’s Porthole, Barrier Brewing Company, Reel, Lazy Lobster, The Bold O’Donoghue’s, Mr. Beery’s Village Pub, and Super Pollo for $40 in advance and $50 at the door. With additional donations from East Rockaway residents who did not attend the pub crawl, The11518 raised $9,500 for Next Step Ministries, a nonprofit organization that sends young adults throughout the country to help communities rebuild after natural disasters. More donations are also expected in the near future, according to Caracciolo.
“We have some more committed donations coming in, so we’re hoping to pass the $10,000 mark again this year,” he said. At its first event last year, The11518 raised about $10,000 for Louisiana flood victims.
This year, Caracciolo said he wanted to help fund two of Next Step Ministries’ new missions in San Augustine and Houston, Texas, which flooded during Hurricane Harvey. He said the organization was chosen because it helped East Rockaway recover after Sandy. “Next Step has been in East Rockaway for the last four years providing disaster relief,” Caracciolo told the Herald last month. “So we kind of want to say thank you for doing that.”

Caracciolo then contacted Nick Cocalis, the mission director, about the pub crawl. Cocalis said that he appreciated The11518’s assistance. “Dan and his team have been a huge help,” he said.
Now, Caracciolo is once again speaking with Cocalis about sending a team from East Rockaway to Texas in the spring, but did not have details as of press time. Once more information is available, he said, it would be posted on The11518’s Facebook page.
The11518 was started by Caracciolo and fellow East Rockaway residents Joe and Lauren Forgione. According to its Facebook page, the group has “morphed into a page that will try to inspire ideas, initiatives and projects that support East Rockaway.”

Mike Smollins contributed to this story.