Mike Monichetti isn’t just a restaurant owner. He’s also a staunch civic booster of Sea Isle. As event sponsor, he is shown looking over posters for the Polar Bear Walk-Run for Autism fundraiser.
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
On Wednesday morning, Mike Monichetti, the owner of Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant in Sea Isle City, was sending his workers all over South Jersey.
“You guys go to Millville, Vineland and then hit Glassboro at Rowan college. That’s your route,” he told two of them.
Collectively, Monichetti’s 10 workers were expected to make stops in Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland, Gloucester and Camden counties.
But they weren’t making seafood deliveries. They were carrying stacks of posters and flyers to promote the Mike’s Seafood Polar Bear Run-Walk for Autism on Sunday, Feb. 16.
Now in its 12th year, the event traditionally attracts thousands of participants and is a major fundraiser benefiting autism support groups, special services schools and families of special needs children.
Over the years, the run-walk has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for autism-related causes, Monichetti said. Last year alone, about $148,000 was raised, he noted.
Mike Monichetti, the event sponsor, looks at posters for the autism awareness fundraiser.
Monichetti and his wife, Jeannie, have four children, including two who have autism, Kara and Michael Jr. Having autistic children and knowing the challenges that parents with autistic children face on a daily basis served as their inspiration for starting the fundraiser.
“Having two autistic children and being very aware of the autism community, I saw a need to promote autism awareness at the Jersey Shore and to help others,” Monichetti said in an interview.
The event attracted about 1,100 runners and walkers and raised about $11,000 in its first year. It has been growing ever since. This year, Monichetti will hand out 2,500 T-shirts to participants, but he expects an even bigger turnout.
“I probably could have ordered 4,000 shirts if I knew the weather was going to be good,” he said.
Monichetti has established a broad network of supporters over the years, including private donors, city officials, the business community, corporations, schools, churches, civic organizations, autism groups and many others. Each year, he is touched by their generosity.
About 40 percent of the participants in the run-walk are from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a major feeder market for Sea Isle’s summer vacationers. Sea Isle is unofficially known as “Delco East.”
Runners take off at the start of the Mike's Seafood Polar Bear Run-Walk for Autism in 2019.
Monichetti goes to great lengths to publicize the run-walk. Boxes containing 3,300 promotional flyers were ready to be mailed out Wednesday. His workers were set to distribute many more flyers and posters during their stops throughout South Jersey.
“We have six carloads of guys going out with flyers, posters, everything,” Monichetti said. “We also have 10,000 emails sent to different participants over the years.”
The run-walk will start at noon Feb. 16 on Sea Isle’s Promenade at the ocean end of John F. Kennedy Boulevard. The event includes a 5-kilometer run and a mile-long family fun walk.
After the run-walk, there will be a big party featuring food, live music, door prizes and family friendly entertainment inside heated tents at LaCosta Lounge at the corner of JFK Boulevard and Landis Avenue. A cornhole tournament at the LaCosta tents will follow at 3 p.m. Proceeds will benefit autism-related causes.
More information on the events, including registration, is available online at www.polarbearrunwalkforautism.com.
The run-walk is one of the centerpieces of Sea Isle’s Polar Bear Plunge Weekend festivities Feb. 14-16. The annual Polar Bear celebration in February traditionally attract tens of thousands of visitors for a weekend of partying, dining and shopping – highlighted by a chilly plunge in the ocean. The plunge will take place at noon on Saturday, Feb. 15.
The event is being publicized with the help of thousands of flyers, posters and brochures.
