NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014
47
Middletown Local 124 plungers
along with neighboring officers
from Atlantic Highlands and
Holmdel. Felipe Benedit is in the
back row, fifth from the left.
PHOTO BY ED CARATTINI JR
Meet me in the Middletown
Plunge brings Local 124 together to help one of its own
■ BY JOSHUA SIGMUND
22, 2014, and for the first time, members of a united Middletown Township Local were there again, supporting
their brother’s cause. “In the 15 years I’ve been with the
They’ve plunged before; heck, retired Middletown
department, we’ve never had as big of a group as we did
Township Lieutenant Mike Cerame has been plunging
this year.”
for as long as anyone can remember. But for the first
LOCAL 124
Benedit took the reigns for the event and organizing
time, Local 124 packed up its trailer and drove to Seathe team and trailer – used at numerous Local events
side Heights for what will certainly become a tradition.
including carrying bikes during the Police Unity Tour and
“Older guys have done it for years, but this is the first
delivering presents during toy drives – while his wife,
time we put together a more-focused fundraising effort
at the
Kelly, set up a website to collect donations for the Local.
and the first time we had an official Middletown team,”
“It’s something wonderful,” noted Dellatacoma.
explained Local 124 Delegate Anthony Dellatacoma.
Polar Bear
“Everyone’s busy, but when you’re able to share and help
The team of 10, organized by Middletown Township
Plunge
raise money to make a difference, especially for someone
Officer Felipe Benedit, raised $3,000 for the Special
you are close with that lives this every day, it’s a feel-good
Olympics, a valiant effort that he hopes to build on in
thing. His son absolutely enjoys it every time we do a function,
future years.
and that’s something that really warms your heart.”
Enjoying the 50-degree weather and sunny skies leading up
When the big moment finally arrived, Benedit and his team
to the inevitable plunge, fedora-covered Benedit explained why
decided that one dip in the Atlantic wasn’t enough.
this year’s Plunge meant so much to him:
“We enjoyed it so much we did a second plunge,” he said.
“My son, Tommy, is a Special Olympian, and everyone is here
“We walked halfway back to the boardwalk and grouped up and
to support him,” he said.
decided to do it again. It’s such a great rush; we wanted to perTommy, a track-and-field athlete with Team Phoenix at Monpetuate it.”
mouth University, is affected by Angelman syndrome, a neuroAfter the second dip, the group members