Together East Rockaway, together Baton Rouge

ER 4 LA fundraiser raises $10,000; local establishments welcome pub crawlers

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On Saturday, East Rockaway residents and their neighbors paid it forward to sufferers of the Louisiana floods by taking part in a pub crawl fundraiser to help support those in need — and they doubled their goal, raking in a whopping $10,000 to send to the victims down south.

Dan Caracciolo’s reaction to the numbers was, “Floored! Absolutely floored! We doubled our goal and it's still increasing. I don't even think we understand the capacity of what we just accomplished. Well done, East Rockaway!”

The very successful ER 4 LA Pub Crawl Fund Drive involved five local establishments: Michael’s Porthole, Barrier Brewing Company, Reel, Lazy Lobster and Althouse. Each establishment offered discounts, raffles and a lot of fun. Then, the crawlers were off to the next stop. (East Rockaway village officials designated municipal parking lot No. 3, behind Capital One Bank on Main Street, as a designated-driver lot. Parking fees and restrictions were lifted from 1 p.m. Saturday through 1 p.m. Sunday.)

In August, 60,000 homes in a 200-square-mile area that included Baton Rouge, La., and its suburbs were damaged when 33 inches of rain fell in 15 hours. It has been called the worst U.S. disaster since Hurricane Sandy. After East Rockaway’s experience with Sandy, event organizers said that they saw this outing as a way to support another area in need following a disaster.