What started as a spur of the moment remark by a local business owner has turned into a major relief effort to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Jim Maier, owner of BOE Marine in Stevensville, offered to drive a truck filled with supplies to New Jersey areas that had been devastated by the hurricane. He asked for monetary donations that he would use to purchase desperately needed supplies.

Well, people answered. Through BOE and other local businesses pulling together, five truckloads of supplies have been delivered, and the group says they will continue to send supply trucks until they run out of donations or there is no longer a need. Using larger trucks from BOE’s distribution company Mesco, they have delivered water, heaters, clothing, non-perishable food, batteries, lights and many other items to the hard hit New Jersey coastline.

Volunteers helped by dropping off items as well as making monetary donations and physically loading supplies into the trucks. Chick-Fil-A helped load supplies and handed out coupons to those making supply donations. Bradley Beach, NJ and Brick Town, NJ are two areas that have received truckloads of supplies. A delivery to Massachusetts is scheduled soon.

People may still make donations of supplies to two area locations: BOE Marine at 325 Cleat Street in Stevensville and Annapolis Harbor Boat Yard at 326 First Street in Annapolis. You also can make monetary donations using PayPal to jim@boemarine.com. Suggested items include bottled water, batteries, large trash bags and non-perishable food items.

Boaters for Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort has started a Facebook page where you can see pictures of the trucks and get updates about truck shipments. Call 866-735-5926 for more information on how you can help.