Special kids get their best beach day ever

Special kids get their best beach day ever
Sea Bright-based chapter sponsors camp program
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — For the third straight year, a California-based nonprofit held a free water-sport event to give some special children their “Best Day at the Beach” in Long Branch.

A youngster is supported by volunteers as he rides the surf during ‘Best Day at the Beach’ held June 5 and 6 at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park in Long Branch. The event, which is sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of the Best Day Foundation, includes surfing and other water sports. A youngster is supported by volunteers as he rides the surf during ‘Best Day at the Beach’ held June 5 and 6 at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park in Long Branch. The event, which is sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of the Best Day Foundation, includes surfing and other water sports. The event went off June 5 and 6 at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of the Best Day Foundation.

The Best Day New Jersey events are free for children with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, blindness, cancer, spinal cord injuries and other physical and developmental challenges.

The Best Day New Jersey Chapter is based in Sea Bright, and events are planned in Brick and Loch Arbour as well as Long Branch.

Children spent June 5 and 6 at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park in Long Branch at “Best Day at the Beach,” an event sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of the Best Day Foundation. Children spent June 5 and 6 at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park in Long Branch at “Best Day at the Beach,” an event sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of the Best Day Foundation. According to New Jersey Chapter Co- Chairwoman Alexis Downham, the events have filled quickly.

“Our camps filled up in two days,” she said. “Both days [in Long Branch] we will have 35 kids.”

Downham said there are about 40 people on the waiting list and that she expects many volunteers to help out, even those unaccounted for.

“[The number of] volunteers kind of range between 50 and 80,” she said. “There are a lot of people who just show up and don’t register.”

Downham described the schedule of events.

“Once the kids get there, they do some stretching with Spider-Man, they do an obstacle course through the sand,” she said. “Then they get on their wetsuits and their helmets and their life jackets, and they go into the water.

“Usually there are two tandem surfboards that they go on and five or six boogie boards, and they kind of rotate between stations.”

Downham, who is co-chair with her husband, Lake, described the work that must be done in the months leading up to the summer events.

“There is a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that people don’t know,” she said. “We have phone meetings once a week that last between an hour and an hour and a half.

“It is completely volunteer-based and we each have full-time jobs, and on top of that, we put in 10 to 20 hours a week doing stuff for Best Day,” she added. “I wouldn’t say there is one thing that is particularly the hardest, there’s just a lot of little stuff.”

Another challenge Downham described was finding people to volunteer and donate to support the events.

“Getting the word out there and getting people to donate their time and their money, food and water and all that stuff,” she said. “It is hard to get people to donate all the door prizes.

“The more known we get, the easier it is. This year’s been easier than last year.”

To increase funding, Downham said, the New Jersey chapter has planned fundraisers.

“All of the funding that we get is through private donations and fundraising,” she said. “We’ve been trying to plan a couple of fundraisers.

“We have a movie premiere planned for August and a poker tournament planned for October.”

Downham did say that there are very few problems on the day of the event.

“The days run pretty smoothly,” she said. “The biggest challenge that we’ve run into is picking up pizza.

“Last year it took two hours to get pizza to the beach,” she added. “We have really great volunteers that know what they are doing, so the events run really smoothly.”

Brooks Lambert, an entrepreneur who founded three multimillion-dollar companies, and Max Montgomery, a writer, publisher and software developer, launched the foundation in March 2008.

The Best Day currently has two chapters, the local chapter based in Sea Bright and the original chapter based in Ventura, Calif.

According to its mission statement, the Best Day Foundation enables kids with special needs to build self-esteem and confidence through safe, fun outdoor adventure activities that stretch their limits, expand their true potential, reinforce their achievements, and connect them with diverse populations in their communities.

Current activities include surfing, body boarding, kayaking and snow tubing.

According to the website, the foundation accomplishes these goals by enabling communities to offer special days at the beach and in the snow for children with special needs.

Best Day provides support, training, and business resources to ensure that safe, self-sufficient programs are created. The program is funded through donations, grants and sponsorships and is currently run entirely by volunteers.
Contact Kenny Walter at
kwalter@gmnews.com.