On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa: Cheers Sports Lends a Helping Hand to Victims of Super Storm Sandy

Cheers Sports crew loads donations bound for Jersey Shore

On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa
Viva Loudoun Editor

(Dec. 5, 2012) - If you have followed my work here at Viva Loudoun or before that on Loudoun Prep Sports (can we get a moment of silence for the "Monkey"), then you know my love affair with Cheers Sports goes back to literally the first day I moved into Loudoun in 1995.

Needing a sporting goods store, I stumbled onto Cheers in their old Sterling location and I have been a satisfied customer ever since. When I started LPS, Cheers Sports owner Denny Petrella was our first sponsor and his generous backing helped us continue our local athletic, education and news coverage here in Loudoun with the start-up of Viva Loudoun.

But if you know Denny and Cheers, then it doesn't surprise you that Cheers is all about supporting and helping local athletics. Each year they donate thousands of  dollars and gear to local leagues, schools and even families in need.

And that generosity crossed the county border recently as a Loudoun resident, Shane McLaughlin, approached Cheers, seeking donations to send to Point Pleasant, NJ, where his family lives. McLaughlin's father, Kevin McLaughlin, was spearheading the relief efforts and was looking for anything that could help his neighbors recover from the devastation on "Super Storm Sandy".

The Jersey Shore community was hit incredibly hard by the storm and its surge.

The Cheers staff sprung into action and boxed up clothing and sporting goods worth more than $50,000 and had it delivered to the elder McLaughlin.


If Petrella and Company had it doubt about the impact of their donations, it was driven home by a note sent from Kevin McLaughlin:

My family has lived in this small beach town for over 100 years and through our family store that we operated for 60 years and being a volunteer fireman for 35 years this is and always will be our home.

Hurricane Sandy is the worst tragedy that I have ever witnessed in person in all my years. Thousands of families not only in Point Pleasant but up and down the Jersey Shore and NY have lost everything. 

As power is being restored throughout the area, many places are going back to their normal lives. But there are many people who have nothing to go back to. Their homes were flooded with 6 feet of water and all of their belongings must be trashed. 

And some people are going back to an empty lot where their home used to be. 

There are still families that are displaced on the barrier islands in NJ that still don’t know the fate of their homes as it is still unsafe to return. Through it all everyone has amazingly remained positive and are working together to get life back in order. 

We are no longer small towns on the Jersey Shore, we are all together on this one and will work with our friends and family to get the Shore back to where is once was. It may not be overnight, but we will get there. 

The love and support, thoughts and prayers from far and wide has been amazing. The volunteers and donations coming in from all over the country shows the true spirit of our country and their desire to help others in need. Throughout this whole experience it has been so tragic and yet so uplifting at the same time. 

In just a few short days we have been able to provide food and shelter for the many in need from the unbelievable outpouring of donations from others. Like my son who now lives in Virginia collecting donations and driving them to NJ with three moving trucks to provide supplies to the many in need. 

To the individuals that donated and the companies that support us like Cheers Sports we thank you. There are many people with ties to the Jersey Shore with friends and family or spent vacations there, and many more who have never been, either way the love and support that we have received can put a smile on our face. 

We hope that before long everyone who has contributed to the hurricane relief in NJ can come and enjoy the place our family has loved for a century. Thank you everyone for your assistance and thoughts and prayers. It will be a long process but WE WILL REBUILD. JERSEY STRONG.”

Denny Petrella and Cheers Sports, just another reason that Loudoun County is a great place to live and do business.