Would you plunge into shark-infested waters to raise money for a good cause? Well, 18 fundraisers (as of publication) have agreed to do just that. Shark Tank Showdown is taking place at the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead on April 1 to raise money for a group of local developmental disability support not-for-profit organizations. It should be noted upfront that while the event is being held on a date known for pranks, this is very much the real thing.
“It’s like Jaws two, three, and four,” said Rise Life Services CEO Charles Evdos about the fundraiser’s return. “It’s going to be phenomenal.”
The Shark Tank Showdown is co-hosted by Rise Life Services and People’s Arc of Suffolk, featuring nine fundraisers affiliated with Rise and ten associated with People’s Arc. However, not all 18 of these selfless individuals will have to take the plunge. Only the best and worst performing fundraisers (i.e., the individual who raises the most money and the one who raises the least money from each organization) will need to swim with the sharks.
“We wanted to have competition at both ends of the contest,” said John McGuigan, CEO of People’s Arc, explaining this structure. “We didn’t want anybody at the bottom slacking off and thinking they could get away with it. So now you have people fundraising at the organization’s top and bottom. No passengers on this ride.”
McGuigan is one of the people who could be in trouble if he over- or underperforms in raising money. The other fundraisers include various Rise Life Services and People’s Arc staff members, friends, and allies who have volunteered or been peer pressured into raising money for the chance to get up close and personal with the sharks.
“Some of the people doing this volunteered, and some of the people doing this were peer pressured into it,” McGuigan added about the fundraiser selection process. “And I would be an example of that latter category.”
The public is encouraged to donate to the campaign drive to determine who will be sent down in the shark cage. Previous iterations of the event were held annually between 2014 and 2018, but this is the first time it has been brought back since the pandemic. The idea for the event initially came about when McGuigan and a colleague named JoAnn Vitale (who is also now a fundraiser for this event) were touring the Long Island Aquarium and noticed a cage suspended above the shark tank. One of them asked the aquarium employee giving their tour if the cage was real and they learned about the aquarium’s shark diving program.
They immediately knew it was an excellent idea for a fundraiser because, as McGuigan said: “there’s a lot of people who would love to throw a lot of other people in a shark tank.” The rest is history.
The donations will help fund Rise and People’s Arc’s vital work supporting people with disabilities in Suffolk County. These two organizations run housing programs, food pantries, suicide prevention efforts, arts programs, and other services for Suffolk residents with disabilities, including autism and cerebral palsy. McGuigan said that the two organizations run nearly 80 sites that serve residents with cognitive disabilities all over Suffolk, from the Nassau border to Greenport on the North Fork.
Evdos also specifically highlighted how the donations will help fund his organization’s outpatient clinic and the Program Without Walls (PWW) initiatives of both Rise and People’s Arc.
PWW initiatives provide individuals with disabled individuals with the opportunity to engage in art, music, dance, and more. He proudly added that both Rise and People’s Arc spend just 10% of their budgets on administrative costs, meaning that 90 cents of every dollar donated to Shark Tank Showdown will go directly into these various programs.
Evdos and McGuigan also stressed the Shark Tank Showdown, is a joint collaborative event, and therefore not bogged down by inter-organization rivalries and pride that often prevent charities from working together. Some of the money will also go to a third organization called The Nick Singh Foundation to fund the creation of a “personalized experience” for one or more of the people served by Rise and/or People’s Arc. The foundation’s president, Nick Singh, is another of this project’s fundraisers/potential future shark cage divers.
Singh and, of course, McGuigan are raising money on behalf of People’s Arc. The other eight fundraisers associated with People’s Arc include Christopher Veros, Deborah Pflieger, Frank Giordano, Jim Skinner, Lindsay Ekizian, Mary Fu, Michael La Paz, and Nicole Weingartner. The nine fundraisers for Rise are JoAnn Vitale, Darryl Johnson, Earl Garrison, Erikka Silverman–Danielson, Father James Reiss, Lou Bosco, Rob Melnick, and Suffolk PBA. is also fundraising for Rise. You can donate to any of these campaigns to help decide who will swim with the sharks.
The reception for the event will be held at the Long Island Aquarium on Tuesday, April 1, from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $99 each. It will include a DJ, buffet, open bar, and even a garrison of Star Wars stormtrooper character impersonators.
Of course, the main draw is witnessing the chosen fundraisers, and News 12 journalists Jenn Seelig and Alex Calamia participate in three shark cage dives. The divers will be outfitted with wetsuits, scuba gear, and microphones so attendees can listen to their reactions. McGuigan joked, “We’ll be able to hear them scream, beg for help, cry for their mom, whatever reaction they have, we’ll be able to hear it all.” Each dive will be around 10 minutes long, and experienced divers will accompany the fundraiser and journalist divers to ensure safety.
The dives will occur in the 120,000-gallon Lost City of Atlantis Shark Exhibit. According to the aquarium’s website, this tank is home to sand tiger sharks, nurse sharks, a moray eel, and a Queensland grouper. The sand tiger sharks range from 8 to 10 feet long and can weigh up to 500 pounds. They are also known as ragged-tooth sharks due to the appearance of the seven rows of teeth in their mouths. Nurse sharks can grow to lengths of 10 to 14 feet and weigh between 165 and 230 pounds. These nocturnal creatures spend their days resting in crevices and caves before emerging at night, often in large numbers, to feed.
“It’s on April Fools’ Day, so anybody that’s a fool wants to go into the water,” Evdos joked.
The divers will undoubtedly be safe. Neither species of shark is known to be aggressive toward humans unless provoked. However, they can certainly intimidate novice scuba divers who are raising funds for charity.
If you want to help determine who will be thrown to the sharks while also raising money to support Suffolk County residents with developmental disabilities in thriving within their communities, visit the websites of Rise Life Services and People’s Arc of Suffolk to make a donation. Donations for the Shark Tank Showdown will be accepted until the night the divers take the plunge.
To purchase tickets to Shark Tank Showdown, sponsor one of the fundraisers, or donate money to the cause, visit onecause.com/rise-shark-tank-showdown or p2p.onecause.com/sharktank2025.
