WE ELECTED THE WRONG 70-SOMETHING:

MEDFORD TWP. -- You probably wouldn't expect to find a doomsday prepper's compound at the end of a nice cul-de-sac off of Tuckerton Road, otherwise lined with large houses with pools.

But that's where Joseph Badame, 74, has spent most of his life, building and outfitting his home and outbuildings for the day when, he believes, an economic collapse will make it all necessary for survival.

If you're picturing a reclusive wildman wearing camouflage, think again.

Badame is an educated, intelligent, mild-mannered architect who is involved in his church, among other things. Until the death of his beloved wife, Phyliss, in 2013, the passion for prepping was something they shared.

The shelter he built and his accumulation of supplies -- enough so that 100 people could live there -- was Badame's life's work. The couple built the place, with its subterranean living area and lead-lined bomb shelter, along with outbuildings. For forty years, they filled them with everything they'd need, from coal furnaces and kerosene refrigerators to barrels of food and other supplies.

But he's losing it all now, after the bank foreclosed on his property.

"I'm losing this house," he said, looking at the building from his driveway Monday. It's a blow to a man who is still heartbroken from losing his wife. "This will never be a survival dwelling for Phyliss or I."

But, he admits, his passion for creating the perfect shelter has diminished since his wife's death, and there are few family members and friends left to worry about saving.

"I described myself as a spirit in search of a purpose," he said.

Remarkably, he found what he was looking for before the estate sale this past weekend, when he met Victoria Martinez-Barber, 30. She and her husband, Anthony Barber, were hired to provide food at the estate sale through Tony & Tori's Grill, the food truck they run.

Martinez-Barber told Badame that all the money from the food truck was going to help her family in Puerto Rico. They were alive, but homeless and hungry in Arecibo thanks to Hurricane Maria.

He donated $100. Then he showed her his food store room.

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