Grab A Yo-Yo, Set A Record, Do Some Good

OCEAN VIEW — A local church is seeking yo-yoers to help with a fundraising effort to send much needed relief to some needy individuals in a Central American country.
Does that sound like an odd request? At first, maybe, but all will be made clear soon.
On June 5 (rain date June 12), there will be an official attempt at breaking the World Record for most people attempting to yo-yo for two minutes. The event will take place at 11 a.m. in the parking lot of Calvary Baptist Church on Route 9 in Ocean View.
The cost to participate is only $5 per person. Festivities include live music by Ray Seemans and The Prisoners of Love, food (BBQ), beverages, crafts, bake sale, moon-bounce and more. Vendors wanted.
Yo-yos will be provided. No experience is required and there are no minimum age restrictions. Advance registration is encouraged, but not required. To register in advance or for more information, please call Jonathan at (609) 658-9990.
In addition to trying to break the record, another purpose of this event is to help raise money for a mission trip to Guatemala in July, which involves 10 Cape May County residents.
“The money raised from the event will be used solely for building a home for an indigent family, providing wheelchairs to physically challenged children and adults who have no means of locomotion, and feeding hungry families who have little to no way of supporting themselves financially,” according to a release.
The 10 individuals traveling to Guatemala have been preparing by performing community service activities throughout the county.
So how did the church decide on breaking a yo-yo record to raise money for a Central American missionary trip?
“The way this all came about is that I was sitting in the congregation at Calvary Baptist Church and there was an announcement about raising funds for a mission trip to Guatemala,” explained John Davis, of Jersey Devil Specialties, a marketing company. “The project sounded worthwhile to me so I started to think of how I as a promotional marketing company could help.”
“I came up with the idea of setting a world record of some sort with the participants raising money in sponsorships to join in on the record attempt,” Davis said. “I started to research the idea and found the yo-yoing record to be one that I thought would be attainable. I presented the idea to the church members and they got on board right away.”
The current yo-yo record was set in Miami in August 2009 and stands at 557 participants, but Davis said he is looking to “smash the record.” He is donating 1,500 yo-yos for the event and is printing commemorative tee shirts for the church to sell to raise additional funds.