Port Jeff Station Tropical Smoothie Cafe Donates $17K to Camp Sunshine

Port Jefferson customers of Tropical Smoothie Cafe rank among the most generous when its comes to helping children. 

Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Port Jefferson Station, owned by Dana Bush, raised more than $17,000 for Camp Sunshine, a one-of-a-kind retreat in Maine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. 

The funds were raised through the cafe's annual National Flip Flop Day campaign, where customers wearing flip flops receive a free smoothie and are asked to donate to Camp Sunshine. 

“I am extremely proud of our accomplishments this year for the National Flip Flop Day campaign,” said Bush. “This is a testament to the amazing and hard-working team members at our restaurants who take it upon themselves to get personally involved in the fundraising and truly care about helping these families.”

Donations from Bushs' two locations, she owns one in Smithtown also, ranked it among the top 10 out of 344 Tropical Smoothie Cafes worldwide who participated in the fundraiser. On Aug. 5, a check totaling $515,000 from the Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise was presented to Camp Sunshine. 

Tropical Smoothie Cafe has raised more than $2 million for Camp Sunshine over the years through its National Flip Flop Day campaign. The money is used primarily to provide sponsorships for more than 200 families to attend the camp, which includes the families' travel costs. 

“Our goal next year is to raise more than $20,000 in Port Jefferson alone, and I’m certain we can pull it off,” said Bush.