Burt Rapoport remembers walking along the sandy beaches of Long Beach with his grandfather every Sunday in the summer, collecting clams and mussels. They would bring their bounty to his grandmother for her to clean, cook and create delicious seafood pasta for the whole family.

Rapoport’s family goes back three generations to the little barrier island– his grandparents bought a house there in the 1940s. He graduated from Long Beach High School in 1967 and returns every summer to visit. His brother and his best friend still have houses on Long Beach – it’s where he keeps his surfboard.

“I still go back and surf there every summer,” Rapoport says.

But now, superstorm Sandy has devastated the community that holds together the fabric of his memories, as well as the photo albums waiting to be filled. He’s far from done creating moments there, he says.

“The entire town was underwater,” Rapoport says at a recent lunch at his packed Delray Beach restaurant Deck 84, where the temperature hovers around 80.

We sit, watching boats squeaking under the Intracoastal bridge, as he reminisces about Long Beach and the memories he has of the little city that fought through the storm.

In the face of such devastation, Rapoport knew he wanted to do something to help raise money. And what better way than a fundraiser at Deck 84 – from one waterside restaurant to a waterside community?

So next Sunday night, from 6 to 10 p.m., 100 percent of Deck 84’s net proceeds will be donated to the Long Beach Relief Fund. Rapoport hopes to raise $5000 that night. Word of the fundraiser has spread and tables are already reserved from 6 to 8:30 p.m., but later seating is available, as is room at the bar. (And patrons can also donate online at the address below).

On an avenue awash with restaurant buzz and reinventions, Deck 84 has found its niche as a casual, waterfront dining hangout since opening a little more than two years ago.

The crab cakes here, available as an appetizer or entrée, make you sit up and take notice. When I nudge executive chef Jon Greening for the secret, he swears that he stays true to the Maryland way of crab cakes: salt, pepper, Old Bay.

“I’ve got a couple of friends from Maryland - they said you’ve got to do the Old Bay,” Greening said. “I think traditional things are good.”

The appetizer portion is set over a delicious bed of spicy arugula and dressed with lemon and olive oil, salt and pepper – simple and in harmony – and a perfect canvas for the zippy chipotle remoulade.

“To me, it’s all about the food. The food has to be great and that’s what we focus on,” Rapoport said.

Long Beach Relief at Rapoport’s Deck 84: Sunday, Jan. 20 from 6 to 10 p.m. at Deck 84, 840 East Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach; to donate, visit www.LongBeachNY.gov and click on the “donate” tab on the right hand column of the home page.