Friendship leads teens to form charitable club
BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Five young men who live in Marlboro have taken their friendship and formed a new club with the goal of raising funds for Ocean Harbor House.

Ocean Harbor House is a nonprofit agency committed to being a safe haven for youths. The facility is in Toms River, Ocean County.

The creators of the club are Joshua Cooper, Gregory Mankes, Charles Fiumefreddo, Frank Dapolito and Michael Mc- Murdo.

The boys are very close friends, ac- cording to Dana Kahn Cooper, Joshua's mother. This was clear to see when a reporter interviewed the boys last week as they came in and immediately all sat next to each other. The boys, who are all 15, have been friends since they were 6 years old.

Gregory came up with the idea of forming a club and the other boys agreed. Out of their combined brainstorming came the new club Build a Connection. This club will officially start at Marlboro High School in September. All of the boys attend Marlboro High School except for Charles, who attends Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft. All five boys will be sophomores this year.

Once the teenagers had the basis for the club ready they went in search of a charity they could work with. An Internet search led them to Ocean Harbor House.

"It was what they were looking for and still local enough," said Rosie Mankes, Gregory's mother.

The boys got an early start in building the connection with their chosen charity and hosted a Build a Connection booth at Ocean Harbor House's Welcome Home party for the 11th annual Harbor House 400 on July 15 at Windward Beach Park, Brick Township.

While manning the booth the teens spent one-on-one time with some of the youths from Harbor House. At their tent the children were able to play with toys like Lego. They built race cars and Star Wars models.

"It was a great day and I think we touched a lot of kids. We saw how unfortunate some are," Joshua said.

"They have so little," Gregory added.

Throughout the day the children kept coming back over to play at the club's booth. At the end of the event the children received a special treat: they were able to take home some of the creations they had built as well as an unopened box of Lego.

The group plans to organize more events throughout the school year in order to raise funds for the organization. Any funds raised will go directly to Ocean Harbor House with a small amount to be set aside for the purchase of building toys.

The teens unanimously expressed their desire to gain more club members at the start of the school year. They would appreciate the extra help in trying to organize more fundraisers, which may include bowling, ice skating and possibly getting local businesses involved.

Ocean Harbor House is a nonprofit agency committed to being a safe haven for youths. Concerned citizens and community leaders founded Ocean Harbor House in 1985. The agency opened its doors to five youths to provide them with a safe haven, getting them off the streets and out of dangerous home situations in August 1988. The service, according to its Internet Web site, provides help to more than 8,000 youths and families each year. The house was expanded in 2002 to provide beds for 12 youths.