Way to Go! Massapequa students host polar plunge for cancer research
Ryan Hirschhorn, a fifth-grader at Birch Lane Elementary School in Massapequa, helped raise roughly $5,000 for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital by coordinating a Virtual Polar Plunge for a Cure. Credit: Massapequa School District
Two Massapequa elementary schoolers have raised money for children undergoing cancer treatment by asking friends and family to take a plunge.
Ryan Hirschhorn and Tyler Uberti, fifth-graders at Birch Lane Elementary School, raised more than $5,200 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by coordinating a Virtual Polar Plunge for a Cure.
Participants were asked to record and submit videos of themselves jumping into a nearby body of water, taking an ice bath or diving into snow — and then challenge three friends or family members to do the same. Videos of the acts were then posted on social media with the hashtag #kfkpolarplunge and all participants were asked to make a donation of any size to St. Jude, which is a pediatric treatment and research facility.
"We don’t want to think about ourselves," Tyler said. "We want to think about the people who need the help."
Ryan added: "We want these kids at St. Jude to feel better and be treated as best as they can; that's what this is all about."
Ryan and Tyler hosted their fundraiser through the Kids for Kids Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money for organizations that support children and families struggling with medical challenges. The boys are both members of the Kids for Kids Junior Committee.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
