Snooki and Friends Look to ‘Restore the Shore’

When producer Jaysonic and I were talking about a possible “Restore the Shore” Tour, the idea came up from one of the members of the Rossi Posse about including the cast of “Jersey Shore!”

After all, it was only right.

The show and the notoriety of the shore made them, well, if not millionaires, certainly put a little more jingle in their pockets.

So it only seemed right that they should be involved some way, some how in an effort to raise funds to help those who’s lives were battered by Hurricane Sandy.
Well, it looks like that’s gonna happen, because according to this:

Snooki, Pauly, Vinny, Sammi, Jenni, Ronnie, Mike and Deena might be long gone from Seaside — but in the wake of Sandy, the cast of “Jersey Shore” will be coming to the aid of the boardwalk with an MTV special.

Called “Restore the Shore,” a fundraising special starring members of the cast will follow the regularly scheduled episode of the series on Nov. 15.

The hour-long live broadcast will benefit Architecture for Humanity, a group that has helped to rebuild after disasters including Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

“Seaside Heights is — the only way I can describe it — Katrina-level damage,” says Cameron Sinclair, a founder of the group. “It’s really hard to see.”

While it’s possible the organization will seek to recover structures in other areas of the shore, the Seaside Heights boardwalk will be the main focus, the site of the drowned Star Jet roller coaster and a string of amusements eaten away, warped and crushed at both Casino and FunTown piers.

The MTV series’ Shore house on Ocean Terrace, famously marked with a painted Italian flag, is not far from the Seaside Heights boardwalk. While the house emerged from Sandy intact, a related boardwalk fixture reportedly did not fare as well: the Shore Store.

Before and throughout last Thursday’s episode of “Jersey Shore,” MTV aired a short, taped message from series star Vinny Guadagnino asking viewers to donate to the Red Cross by texting “Redcross” to 90999.

“We are beyond saddened that so many families are now homeless,” Guadagnino said.
“The boardwalk, the beaches, the rides and so many places that we see every week on TV are now ruined … Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that was affected by this tragedy. We love you, Seaside.”

The focus of the forthcoming telethon for rebuilding Seaside will be online and mobile in nature, says MTV.

Beyond the telethon, Architecture for Humanity may also assist other locations including Monmouth Beach and Hoboken — the latter a place Sinclair says is “near and dear” to organizers, including Kate Stohr, Architecture for Humanity’s co-founder.

In addition to the “Jersey Shore” crew, “Restore the Shore” will feature other special guests yet to be named.

And viewers don’t have to wait till Nov. 15 to contribute. Anyone who wants to give money now can visit architectureforhumanity.org.

Originally I thought to myself, “…hadn’t they done enough damage already? Why bother including them in a restoration effort?”

And, in a way, it was adding insult to injury when it was reported this past Saturday that Snooki was in a black helicopter doing a flyover over what she termed her "second home"...albeit paid for by "Jersey Shore" production company, 495 Productions.

Seeing is how the production company, MTV, and the cast profited quite a bit from the show, which was the highest rated show in the history of the network…even beating out some prime time shows in its 10PM Thursday night slot...it's only right that they host some kind of benefit...at their expense!

Or, "on the arm"...as some of us are fond of saying!

All in all, I would rather see it go not just to restoring the boardwalk, but to helping all those at the shore in need of shelter.

Your call...what say you?