Sandy deprived church of parishioners, funds

By DONNA WEAVER The Press of Atlantic City

LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - Since Hurricane Sandy, the congregation at St. Theresa's Roman Catholic Church has thinned because so many people never returned to their storm-damaged homes.

The church is doing everything it can to stay financially stable and keep its doors open. Inside the church - built in 2006 - some of the lights have been shut off because it is too expensive to operate them.

"The Little Egg Harbor-Tuckerton area was forgotten during Sandy, which speaks so highly of the community here. People pulled together and helped people," the Rev. K. Michael "Mick" Lambeth told The Press of Atlantic City (http://bit.ly/1eIP27u).

Similar to the days immediately following Sandy, the residents and church staff continue to pull together, he said.

"Even though we had no power the very next morning after the storm, we were here. People came forward to help, asking, 'What can I do?'" parish coordinator Cathy Mazanek said.

The aftermath of Sandy has not been kind to the township's residents or to St. Theresa's, Lambeth said. Each day, some of the residents who have returned to their homes visit St. Theresa's for some form of assistance.

Neither the township nor the state has a definitive number of how many local people did not return home after Sandy, but Lambeth said the proof is glaring during Sunday Mass.

Lambeth estimates the church lost about 1,000 families from the congregation. Before the storm, the church had about 5,000 year-round and summer families. In the weeks after the storm, the church lost about $120,000 in revenue, and finances have not improved since then.

Between the mortgage and other expenses each month, it costs about $60,000 to operate the church, Lambeth said. Before Sandy, parishioners gave about $13,000 per week, Lambeth said. That number dipped after the storm to $8,000 per month at its lowest.

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Sandy deprived church of parishioners, funds