By Grant Playter
SEA BRIGHT – On July 30, the Surfrider Swim Team continued their dominant streak of championship seasons in the North Shore League, defeating Chapel to secure their eighth consecutive undefeated season.
However, in spite of this massive accomplishment, the very next day the swimmers were back in the pool swimming laps, albeit with a new purpose. The kids were swimming not for competition, but for an event known as the Swim-A-Thon, a fundraiser held every year after the conclusion of the North Shore League.
“Mrs. LoBiondo, who was the owner of our club, passed away from ALS,” said Sherrie Cole, head coach for Surfrider. “So we started doing the Swim-A-Thon and the kids have raised over $110,000 since we started.”
Denise LoBiondo was 51 years old when she was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in 2004. The Swim-A-Thon began in her honor in 2009, with all the proceeds going to Joan Dancy & PALS (People with ALS) Foundation.
While her doctors said she would likely die two-to-five years after the diagnosis, Lobiando ultimately lived seven years with the disease. A fortunate turn of events, as she was able to attend the first two Swim-A-Thons for the team she loved so dearly.
“She was the biggest supporter of the swim team, the sweetest woman,” said Cole. “She just loved the swimmers. She was very proud of the swim team.”
Prior to the event, the swim team members collect sponsors and donations, pledging to swim a length of the pool in accordance with the donation. In addition to these sponsorships, various raffles and giveaways are held in order to support JD & PALS.
“This is the 11th year they’re doing it, which is absolutely amazing,” said Kathy Valentino, a nurse affiliated with the program. “The swim team. the entire community here goes all out to support people with ALS and our foundation.”
The Joan Dancy & PALS organization was founded in memory of Joan Dancy, a Middletown woman who suffered from ALS. Dancy felt there was little accommodation made in the home lives for those with ALS, and wanted to leave behind a legacy that could help the day-to-day lives of afflicted individuals and their families.
“I took care of Joan for 18 months and we become very close,” said Pat Schaffer, a nurse with JD & PALS. “The foundation was her vision.”
The goal of JD & PALS is to serve as a community outreach program where volunteer nurses help individuals in Monmouth County suffering from the disease in their day-to-day lives. Whatever the sufferer needs, whether it be equipment, transportation, cleaning, or simply company, the volunteers seek to do everything in their power to help them and their families.
“People need to get connected to other people who have this disease and inspire themselves,” said Valentino. “Events like this are so phenomenal because we can bring that hope back to them.”
In operating on a local level, the foundation hopes to make a discernible impact on the lives of those they deal with. All the nurses in attendance reminisced about how they did everything they could to stay in the lives of those hurt by the disease. Not only will they go above and beyond in attending the funerals of their patients living with this terminal illness, but they also strive to check up on the families even after the afflicted individual has passed.
Ultimately, the Swim-A-Thon provides an opportunity for a community to not only remember and celebrate the life of a beloved member of their community but actualize real change on the local community.
“It’s so emotional to see my members in total support of this and constantly continuing to better this event every year,” said Nicole LoBiondo, Denise’s daughter. “We really have become a family.”
