Be Someone’s Angel, are you ready to set another world’s record?

From left: Linda Whitman, Spectrum Health, Debra Kinnaird, West Shore Bank, Kaley Petersen, Spectrum Health.

Be Someone’s Angel, are you ready to set another world’s record?

#besomeonesangel

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

LUDINGTON — Are you willing to be someone’s angel? Do you want to make history? It’s pretty simple. All you have to do is come down to Stearns Park at noon on Saturday, June 10 and lie down in the sand and make a sand angel (and preferably a donation as well).

Be Someone’s Angel will be the highlight event of the Love Ludington Weekend. The goals of the event are to break the Guinness World Record for most sand angels created simultaneously and to create a special fund for the Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Cancer Center to help area cancer patients with medical expenses.

The weekend will also include the grand opening of the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum at 5 p.m. on June 10 along with a Pirate of the Caribbean Shoreline Cruise on the SS Badger that evening.

This is the second year that a Guinness world record attempt will be held in Ludington. Last year, House of Flavors Restaurant broke the world record for the world’s longest frozen dessert with a sundae that stretched 2,970 feet and 8.95 inches (a feat that was defeated by another Michigan ice cream company later that year). The current record for most people making sand angels simultaneously is 352 and was achieved by Keep Wales Tidy in Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom on June 6, 2015.

Stearns Park beach has the capacity to allow up to 5,000 people to make sand angels and Kaley Peterson, director of foundation, community services, and volunteers at Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital, is confident that Ludington can easily break the record.

“We know we are going to blow that out of the water and retain it for years to come,” Peterson told MCP in a recent interview.

The fun event is for a serious cause, creating a fund to help local cancer patients offset medical expenses.

Linda Whitman, Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Cancer Care and Infusion practice manager said the staff and physicians at the cancer center witness the financial struggles of patients daily.

“We live it everyday,” Whitman said. “The struggle is real. Patients may have thousands of dollars in deductibles, they may have challenges with getting transportation to their appointments. Many of our patients live in the outlining communities of our area and have to drive to the hospital daily.”

Peterson said the fund will offset many of those costs.

“I am amazed when we talk to patients and they talk about the financial burdens that are the most stressful part of the process,” Peterson said. “Our goal is that when a patient comes in with a diagnosis that this helps alleviate the burden of that financial piece and allow the patient to focus on getting healthy and doing what he or she needs to do to get through this chapter of their life. Our goal is to create a fund that can live on in perpetuity and create a legacy.”

To help kickstart the event, West Shore Bank became the title sponsor with a $25,000 donation. But, any donation amount will help, Peterson said. “No matter if you donate $5 or $5,000, every dollar will help.”

Organizers are suggested that participants make a $20 donation.

“All funds stay local and directly benefit our greater community. Pre-registration is encouraged for the event. In order to effectively organize and coordinate, we anticipate a capacity of 5,000 sand angel participants.”

Participants can pre-register as an individual or group on Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/be-someones-angel-official-world-record-attempt-tickets-31232115097.

Registration begins at noon and the event will take place at 1 p.m. An official Guinness World Record judge will be on site to verify in real time if the event breaks the current record. 

The event is also looking for volunteers. Volunteers are needed for attendee registration check-in, donation collections, and crowd management. Sign up to volunteer here.

Dan Vargas of MCP team contributed to this story.

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