Local businesses join forces to reach out to Katrina victims

SPARTA - Reinauer Transportation Companies, Raymond of New Jersey LLC, a dealership for Raymond Forklift Trucks, and Weichert Realtors of Sparta have joined forces to deliver much-needed relief supplies to people of the Gulf Coast who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. Reinauer Transportation operates a fleet of tugboats and barges that carry refined petroleum products on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. Reinauer has 16 employees that were impacted by Hurricane Katrina, as well as a barge in Louisiana that was under construction at the time the hurricane hit. “We wanted to help out in a very immediate, concrete way, and were fortunate to find other area businesspeople who were willing and able to help us complete our mission. Christian and I used our personal and business contacts to come up with a solution that used everyone’s resources to make our idea come to life,” said Dean Reinauer of Reinauer Transportation. Duffy Brennan, a broker/salesperson in the Sparta office of Weichert Realtors, volunteered to drive a truck to the affected area and the office agreed to pay for the fuel for the trip. John Wermert, Vice President of After Market Sales and Service for Raymond, was quick to offer his company’s assistance n Raymond of New Jersey offered use of a tractor trailer for the drive. Clothing, bedding, and other household goods were collected by Ralph Flaherty and the Sparta Presbyterian Church, Helena Bould and the Alpine Montessori School of Sparta, Sparta Little League’s Fisher Building, Weichert Realtors-Sparta office and the Reinauer’s facility on Staten Island, N.Y. Rick Schulke, owner of Package & Wrap of Sparta provided boxes to assist with the packaging of the collected items.