Toms River Cancels Jingle Bells 5K, Pros Vs Heroes Football Game

The Toms River Police Department announced some sad news on Facebook: the Jingle Bells 5K run and the Pros vs Heroes Charity Flag Football Game were both being cancelled for 2020.

While the TRPD isn't blaming the COVID19 pandemic directly, this is an example of some of the domino effect that we are going to be seeing for, unfortunately, a very long time. The Toms River Police Department and the Toms River Police Foundation rely on donations from both local businesses and residents. With countless businesses being closed for a few months, or just operating at half-speed, it will be hard to expect a business owner to have any sort of extra income for donations. The same goes for the general public; with so many people out of work, digging into savings, or just relying on unemployment payments, spending money on anything but the absolute essentials is a lot to ask.

We all want things to get back to "normal", but no one really knows what that means. Can events be held with people six feet apart, can they wear masks, can surfaces be wiped and disinfected? Beyond questions like that, things like fundraising will come into question. Even if funds were raised, it's hard to imagine an event like a 5K, with thousands of people in close proximity, all breathing heavy, being able to happen. There's really no telling when the last of these restrictions will be rolled back, so it's easiest for most of these events to just be skipped this year, as we all look to next year for "normalcy".