Toms River: On Wednesday Ocean County Scanner News held our successful first annual Christmas Smart TV Giveaway. The idea for a giveaway originated when we found a new 19″ TV in the box in storage. OCSN is no stranger to giveaways, and we felt that one lucky fan would love a new TV. After we started the contest for the single television, emails began to come into our inbox with entries. It turned out that many local residents here in Ocean County could use a new TV for Christmas 2020, and it almost appeared to be each story was sadder than the last. Realizing that there was more than one deserving family out there- we turned our attention to donations from the public. After not much begging and pleading, OCSN was able to secure around 15 Smart televisions of varying sizes as donations. The sponsors who donated the prizes chose to be anonymous. They just wanted to see deserving families and people have a happy holiday season. Early in the contest a few rude and outspoken people questioned the need for a Smart TV among the entrants. Thankfully the people who entered the contest only wanted a TV; they weren’t starving for food or living in extreme poverty.
We were able to pull around 15 emails for people who entered the TV contest. Once the finalists were notified- the event was scheduled for Wednesday 12/23 around 15:00 at the QuickChek in TR. Below is the video (<5 minutes) where OCSN Staff 01, Dave greeted the crowd and began the TV distribution. Seeing the smiles and excitement among the crowd as the winners chose their TV’s was truly awesome. It was a great feeling to see such a small contest make a huge impact on Ocean County residents. As for Christmas 2021- we will begin planning the Great TV Giveaway around Black Friday. Congratulations to everyone who got to take home a TV for Christmas on behalf of Ocean County Scanner News. Meanwhile the Asbury Park Birdcage Liner is begging you $0.99/ month for stories that come three days late.

Thank you everyone who donated a TV or cash. None of this contest would have existed beyond the single 19″ set if the anonymous donors didn’t open their checkbooks.