Last summer, when friends Chaz Briggs and Tyler Woyshner, both 22-years old, decided to roller blade to the beach from their homes in Moorestown, they didn’t know exactly what they were getting themselves into. It just seemed like something to do on a beautiful sunny day.
“Somehow, it got brought up in conversation,” Woyshner said. “We were thinking about going to the beach and we love to roller blade, so we just decided to give it a try.”
The trip totaled 53 miles and took them more than five hours to complete.
“It was grueling,” Briggs said. “We didn’t really think too much about how difficult is was going to be. We all love to play roller hockey and we can all skate, so we weren’t prepared for just how tough of a trip it was going to be.”
Yet, while the trip may have exhausted their physical capabilities, it also gave them a great idea: doing the trip again, but this time, trying to raise money for charity.
That is exactly what they did on July 18, when they redid the 53-mile trek to the beach. This time, however, they enlisted a few more friends and were better prepared for what was ahead of them.
“It was still hard, don’t get me wrong,” Briggs said. “But, now that we knew what we were getting ourselves into, it was way more fun.”
Making the trip with Woyshner and Briggs this time around were Chris Chrurchman, Bryan Rudolph and Corey Pedersen. They left Moorestown at 9:30 a.m. on July 18 and landed on Long Beach Island four and a half hours later.
“It was even more rewarding doing the skate this year,” Woyshner said. “We knew we were raising money for charity, and we also had more people with us, so it was awesome.”
For the second installment of this voyage, the skate was given a name: Shore for a Cure. A fitting title, since the skate raised money for two different cancer charities: Livestrong and Camp No Worries.
Livestrong is a nationally recognized foundation benefiting cancer research. Camp No Worries, on the other hand, is a weeklong camp for children with pediatric cancer at the YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties.
“I wasn’t able to volunteer at Camp No Worries this summer,” Briggs said. “We figured the pain we were going to go through during this skate was nothing compared to what those kids go through, so we decided to donate half the proceeds to them.”
To reach as many people as possible, Shore for a Cure created a Facebook page and also relied on the community to spread the word. To date, they have been able to raise more than $2,600 for the charities.
“There are a lot of people we need to thank for helping us with getting the donations and being able to complete the skate,” Briggs said. “My mom was a huge part of spreading the word. The Pedersen family cheered us on during the skate and gave us water and took pictures. The Woyshner family fed us when we finally made it to the beach and gave us a place to relax for a little while. But, the most important people are all the people who donated. We can’t thank them enough.”
This year’s event was a huge success, according to Briggs. But, he sees the potential for this to continue to grow and hopes to make it an annual event.
“I definitely see this growing,” he said. “We’re hoping to keep getting donations and get more people involved so we can have even more people doing the skate next summer.”
To learn more about Shore for a Cure or to donate, visit www.facebook.com/ShoreForACure.
