MCR and Morse Development, the owner and operator of the TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport, has donated 74,000 cubic feet of sand to help the Jamaica Bay shoreline as part of the ongoing recovery efforts from Hurricane Sandy, Metro reports. The project’s goal is to create a berm that helps to stabilize the shoreline at Jamaica Bay, protect Howard Beach from storm damage and flooding and restore the native habitat to Spring Creek Park.

The sand comes from the excavation work to build the hotel’s 50,000-square-foot events center, according to the article. The sand has a value of $5 million, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said in a statement to the publication.

“Spring Creek Park is an ideal destination for those who love nature, but it also has the potential to be the borough’s first line of defense against storms that threaten to flood surrounding communities,” she said. The donation “will both save taxpayers money and go a long way toward making the TWA Hotel’s home borough more resilient in the face of future storms.”