It’s almost that time of year again when Tarrytown’s intrepid teen Katie Smercak takes an icy dip in the Atlantic for her ongoing fundraising efforts for Camp Sunshine.
This time she’ll have more company from her own family:
Lind Porcelli, her mother, writes, “We've expanded it this year...I might be crazy but I'm going in too, as well as my mom and my sister!"
You can meet "Team Katie" on Katie's fundraising page, where she explains her special connection to the camp in Maine for kids with life threatening illnesses and their families:
When I was five I was diagnosed with leukemia. My world was turned upside-down as hospital visits became a regularity and I started using words like oncologist and decadron as part of my every day vocabulary. Just as my family and I were feeling more alone than ever we found Camp Sunshine. Camp Sunshine is the place where we became happy and hopeful again. From the second my family arrives to the minute we leave we have smiles on our faces and never stop laughing and having a good time. It’s a place where you can talk about your problems but have fun and smile while doing so. You can take a deep breath and fall if you need to and know someone is always there to catch you. I am 15 and eight years off treatment. This is going to be my second polar plunge. Please help me send a family to camp so they too can have hope again.
The Polar Dip is January 26 at noon in Long Branch, NJ. Katie is well on her way to her goal of $1,500 but there’s always room for more.
To learn more or donate, click here.
Freezin' for a reason! Brrrrrrrrr!
Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our newsletter
