Joey's Polar Plunge

2008 Total Raised to Date: over $15,000!

New Year's Day 2008 at 9 a.m.
at 1663 Columbia Road, South Boston, Mass.

Camp Sunshine is pleased to announce the 2008 Joey’s Polar Plunge! We believe that together we can send many more children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to our one-of-a-kind retreat in Maine.

With the strength of an event such as Joey’s Polar Plunge, it is our goal to raise $30,000 for Camp Sunshine in 2008. That is enough to send 20 families to Camp Sunshine!

Who’s Joey and why the Plunge?

Eleven-year-old Joey started off 2006 in an extraordinary way by heading to Boston Harbor with his family to take a plunge in the icey cold water to raise money for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

In 2003, Joey’s family made their first trip to Camp Sunshine. The family is not a stranger to illness or the effects it has on lives. Just days before Joey was born, his grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. He lost his battle after bravely fighting for nearly three years. Unfortunately, the family’s fight with cancer did not end there. On Halloween 2002, Joey’s dad, Mark, was diagnosed with urachal cancer. Mark went through extensive surgery in January 2003 and has been cancer-free since. As a way to give back for the many miracles they have received, they began volunteering in September 2003. They have since volunteered for nearly 20 sessions.

In addition to volunteering at camp, Joey wanted to do something to raise money to send a family to Camp Sunshine for a week. He joined with the L Street Brownies to participate in their Polar Plunge that takes place every New Year’s Day. He began taking pledges from family and friends, and before he knew it, he had raised enough money for not only one family, but THREE!

Why a Massachusetts based event for a camp in Maine?

Since the start of Camp Sunshine in 1984, we have provided a haven for more than 24,000 family members from 46 states and 15 countries. Approximately 25% of these families come from Massachusetts. In fact, in 2007 alone, 139 Massachusetts families have participated in our program. Sadly, even with multiple sessions being added annually at Camp Sunshine, there are still many more children from Massachusetts being newly diagnosed each year.