Lauren Lamonica

I went to NY a couple of weeks ago to join an annual tradition in Long Beach, NY - jumping into the Atlantic Ocean on Superbowl Sunday. I did this for the first time last year with about 5,000 other Long Beach Polar Bears. This chapter was founded back in 1998 by my uncle, Kevin McCarthy and his friend, who wanted to do something crazy for their upcoming birthdays. A few years later, with about a hundred members, they decided to turn the event into a fundraiser for Make A Wish. In 2008, the event raised 350K. This year’s event, which has doubled in size over last year’s to almost 10,000 Polar Bears (a Guiness World Record), has been expected to raise almost 1 Million Dollars.

I am very proud of my uncle and everyone else who jumped into the cold Atlantic on this beautiful NY winter day. My family was all there in orange “staff” hoodies volunteering and collecting money for Make A Wish. What a great day. Here is a video, which features my uncle talking about the event.