Beach Cleanup, Fall Festival Honor 2 Young Locals After Tragedy

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — Two young people touched by tragedy have brought hearts and hands together for good in Westhampton Beach.

On Monday, October 11, the Second Annual "Inlet 2 Inlet" Charity Beach Cleanup and Fall Fair unfolds. Registration takes place at the Westhampton Beach Village marina from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the beach cleanup next, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. along the 15 miles of coastal beaches stretching from Cupsogue County Park to the Shinnecock Inlet.

The event includes food and beverage trucks, live music, local business vendors and children's games and activities, face painting, pumpkin painting and event merchandise for sale.

The beach cleanup is organized by Live Your Cor, in memory of Cory Hubbard, and to support Dana Barrett Strong.

Every year, hearts are full as the many who loved him remember Cory, a Westhampton Beach High School graduate who died in 2014 after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while away at college.

He was just 22 years old.

After Cory's death, his parents Ralph and Holly Hubbard created the Live Your Cor Foundation, which provides funds for local families facing challenges — giving back to help others in honor of their son's caring heart.

Dana Barrett, 29, suffered a severe spinal injury in a pool accident in 2019. After being airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital it was determined she suffered a C2 fracture, resulting in paralysis from the neck down and the inability to breathe on her own, a GoFundMe page said.

Both Cory and Dana grew up deeply rooted in the community, with a love of the beach, the water, sports and summer. Cory loved to surf, reveled in the spray of the ocean water and the sunshine on his face.

In the face of tragedy, the community has opened their hearts to help, both raising funds to help others in Cory's memory, and to support Dana in her recovery. Dana is currently at New Beginnings, a community center for traumatic brain injury, and continuing to make strides, supporters said.

Holly Hubbard, Cory's mother, has said Jack Clark of Starr Boggs was instrumental in organizing the event.

"This is a true collaborative production between Live Your Cor, the Dana Barrett Supplemental Needs Trust and Relic," Clark said. Relic is a T-shirt company that donates to many local efforts. "It's about our greater community getting together to do something for the local environment while raising money for worthy causes."

The hope, he said, is that the event can springboard toward other projects and collaborations in the future.

"The Inlet 2 Inlet fundraiser was an idea brought to us by Dana Barrett's friends," Ralph Hubbard, Cory's father, told Patch. "Dana and Cory were good friends and they both love the beach. In the shadow of COVID, the indoor events that we did in the past could not occur. Those events tended to be more adult-oriented and excluded families. Last year's beach cleanup was a shift to a more wholesome family event."

He added that all involved were able to clean up the beaches and bring families together for a good cause.

"The Dana Barrett Strong goal is to provide some additional financial support to ease her burden. That is exactly in line with the goal of the Live Your Cor Foundation. Last year's event was well received and the community support was amazing," Hubbard said.

Clark, on social media, wrote that at last year's event, the Inlet 2 Inlet team cleaned more than 2,000 pounds of garbage off the beach and raised more than $30,000 to support Live YourCor and Dana Barrett Strong.

"This year we hope to double our efforts both in cleaning our delicate coastal ecosystem as well as fundraising for these great causes," he said.

For information on the event, to register, and to raise funds and qualify for prizes based on fundraising, click here.