Hamptons Nonprofit Founders Get Cruise, More on 'Rachael Ray'

On Wednesday, Southampton resident Rachael Ray welcomed 121 “Hometown Heroes” to the set of her television show in New York City, among them North Sea’s Romi Sloan and East Quogue’s Kym Smith.

Sloan and Smith, of Gardens by Romi, are the cofounders of Hamptons Hurricane Relief Fund, a nonprofit they started shortly after Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast. For more than a year now, they and other volunteers have provided aid to Sandy victims in the form of food, cash, gift cards, furniture, labor and more.

Smith says they were invited to be in the audience of The Rachael Ray Show and were surprised when they got there to learn it was also Ray’s holiday giveaway. Among the gifts were Xbox video game consoles, electric guitars, and a cruise.

“It really was so exciting,” Smith says. “As a matter of fact I worry about how silly we will look crying and screaming.”

Genevieve Gorder of HGTV, who was a guest on the show, is designing the Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

Smith and Sloan were nominated by Mike Hoffman of Staten Island, who is a member of the Hamptons Hurricane Relief Fund board and involved with the nonprofit Yellow Boots.