Inspired by Friends, Fun, Fund-Raising

Jetskiing buddies who jet ski band together to raise money for charity.

By Mark Coxson, Belmar, New Jersey

As appeared in

My parents supported Camp Happy Times, a camp for kids with cancer and those who’d been cured, even before I was diagnosed with bone cancer myself. Through my teens, I spent a week there—at no cost to my family—every summer and made some of the best friends of my life.

I’m still connected to Camp Happy Times today. I volunteer as a counselor and organize fund-raisers. One day a friend of mine approached me, looking for advice on the nonprofit work he was involved in.

“My buddies and I tried to do a fund-raiser that featured us riding our jet skis along the New Jersey coast,” he explained. “The jet ski part was successful, but the fund-raising part wasn’t. Think you could help?”

For the last three years my friend and his buddies have partnered with Camp Happy Times to create Jet Ski for a Cause. Bringing my friends together means happy times for all.

Help Camp Happy Times at thevaleriefund.org.