New York Cares Coat Drive Joins Coney Island Polar Dip Fundraiser for Camp Sunshine on New Year’s Day

Freezin’ for a Reason event to raise money for Camp Sunshine, a one-of-a-kind retreat in Maine for children with life-threatening diseases and their families

CONEY ISLAND, New York (Dec. 22, 2009) – Participants and spectators at a New Year’s Day polar dip fundraiser at Coney Island to benefit Camp Sunshine can also drop off gently used coats to help needy New Yorkers, event organizers announced Friday.

The New York Cares Coat Drive is teaming up with the Coney Island Polar Bear Club’s fourth annual Coney Island Polar Dip set for 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day at Riegelmann Boardwalk on Coney Island in Brooklyn.

Participants will plunge into the chilly waters off Coney Island Beach to raise money to help send more families from New York to Camp Sunshine, a one-of-a-kind retreat in Maine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
Every participant is encouraged to raise a minimum of $100 in pledges for Camp Sunshine, those who do will receive an “I DID IT!” t-shirt and be entered for a chance to win a pair of Air Tran tickets anywhere in the US or Caribbean. All proceeds will benefit Camp Sunshine. To pledge online and for more information on the event, visit www.freezinforareason.com.

The event also marks the final opportunity to support the New York Cares Coat Drive by donating a gently used coat on the boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Plungers will be freezing for a reason but other New Yorkers shouldn’t be left out in the cold.

Each December, New York Cares collects 70,000 donated coats and distributes them to NYC-based nonprofit organizations serving individuals and families in need. For more information, visit www.newyorkcares.org/coatdrive.
Last year, the world-renowned Coney Island Polar Dip raised $25,000 for Camp Sunshine. The goal for the Jan. 1, 2010 event is to raise more than $30,000 – enough to send more than 20 New York families to Camp Sunshine.

“The reality of this event is that the discomfort our plungers feel for just a moment will never compare to what our families go through during the course of their child’s illness,” said Michael Smith, Camp Sunshine’s Director of Special Events. “It’s for the families and children that we plunge... we call it Freezin for a Reason.“

Participants are asked to arrive early for the 1 p.m. event and to assemble on the boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Plungers are encouraged to bring warm clothes, surf boots or old sneakers, and towels – and a used coat to donate to New York Cares. The NYC Parks Department is providing changing facilities.

Participants who make a donation to Camp Sunshine will receive a free breakfast and all-day admission to the New York Aquarium. For more information, visit the Coney Island Polar Bear Club online at www.polarbearclub.com.

Nestled alongside the shores of beautiful Sebago Lake in Casco, Maine, Camp Sunshine (www.campsunshine.org) offers children with life-threatening illnesses and their families a place to relax together for a week, and to take a break from the extraordinary demands placed on them on a daily basis.

The year-round program is free of charge and staffed almost entirely by volunteers. It is the only program in the nation whose mission is to address the impact of a life-threatening illness on every member of the immediate family.

Since the opening of the Camp’s year-round campus in 2001, more ill children and their families have come from New York than any other state in the nation. In 2009, 153 families from New York attended the Camp. Sadly, even with multiple sessions being added annually at Camp Sunshine, there are still many more children from New York being newly diagnosed each year, Smith said.

To support Camp Sunshine, please call (207) 655-3800 or visit www.campsunshine.org.

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Here is more news and information about Camp Sunshine.