Douglaston Club and Local Construction Company Owner Aid Rockaway Storm Victims

The Douglaston Club and a construction company owner from the community have donated funds and equipment, respectively, to help Rockaway residents affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The club, located at 600 West Drive, will donate $11,000 raised at an annual raffle held last weekend to Rockaway residents who lost their homes to the late October hurricane.

“This year, for the first time ever, our board of directors voted to donate the money from our raffle dinner to an outside organization,” said John Veniziano, the Douglaston Club’s manager. “Usually, this money would be used for painting our building or refurbishing something.”

The Nov. 10 was attended by an estimated 250 local residents, who paid $100 apiece for a raffle drawing. The money raised from the raffle will be given to the Mayor’s Fund to the Advancement of New York City.

“We’ve been told that 100 percent of the proceeds will directly help those affected by the hurricane,” Veniziano said.

One of the Douglaston Club’s members, Donal O’Sullivan, has also been active in assisting those displaced by the storm.

O’Sullivan’s Manhattan-based construction company, Navillus, has been sending as many as 50 trucks and 100 men to the Rockaways each day since the storm made its way through the five boroughs.

O’Sullivan is a Douglas Manor resident.

“They should erect a statue to this guy,” Veniziano said of O’Sullivan. “He’s taken this out of his own pocket and he’s been there every day. He’s stopped doing other jobs to help people in Rockaway.”

A spokeswoman for Navillus confirmed that the company had been sending equipment and manpower to help the storm’s victims, but O’Sullivan could not immediately be reached for comment.