Urgent care nurse joins community in saving beloved Wildwood Catholic High School

WILDWOOD CREST, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Like many of us, Kim Sorenson's life has been turned upside down because of COVID-19.

She is a mother of five who also works two jobs, one as an elementary school nurse and the other as an urgent care nurse in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey.

"COVID kind of took over my life because the school I worked at closed, so that was a huge transition," she said. "And at the same time, all of the doctors' offices in the whole health community were struggling."

Then some more bad news. Wildwood Catholic High School, where two of her children currently attend, was set to close due to a lack of financial support through the pandemic.

And out of that, the organization Save Wildwood Catholic went into overdrive.

Sorenson and others from the community volunteered their time to raise money.

"I've been in charge of Morey's Piers ticket sales fundraisers," she said. "We raffled off a golf cart and all kinds of things to raise money and to commit for long term financial stability. We just knew that we had to try."

And try they did. They helped raise over $1 million for Wildwood Catholic to combine with another school.

"The fact that the community was able to be in a pandemic and raise enough money to keep the school open lets the kids know that the whole community loves them," she said. "It gives me such a peace of mind knowing that people who love my kids are with them all day. It just goes to show that despite people struggling at their church and their school that their community is so important," said Sorenson.