Jeep Beach 2022 finishes Daytona run with parade and beach cleanup

DAYTONA BEACH — As thousands of Jeeps slowly drove by the water's edge on Sunday, Wendy Rivera stood on the beach shooting small rubber ducks from a plastic ball launcher at the passing vehicles.

"The ducks are a Jeep thing that started back when COVID started, and it's just a way to brighten people's day," said Rivera, of Port St. John.

Up to 5,000 Jeeps showed up Sunday for the "Jeep Beach Sweep," said Charlene Greer, the executive director and chairwoman of the weeklong Jeep Beach event.

As part of the closing ceremony, Jeeps parade the beach from International Speedway Boulevard to Dunlawton Avenue, picking up trash as they go.

Organizers estimate that this year’s Jeep Beach attracted some 200,000 visitors and 20,000 Jeeps, said Greer earlier this week. Now in its 19th year, Jeep Beach has become a beloved annual event due to its focus on raising funds for worthy causes.

Incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity in 2017, Jeep Beach has donated over $2.8 million to area charities over the past decade through the event’s annual weeklong fund-raising efforts. Recipients include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia & Flagler Counties; the NASCAR Foundation; the Childhood Cancer Foundation, as well as more than 30 additional nonprofit groups.

In 2021, the event raised a record-setting $500,000 for charity.

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"We passed out garbage bags and we asked all our Jeepers as they are leaving the beach if they see a piece of garbage, it doesn't matter if it's yours or not, to please stop, pick it up and carry it off so that we leave the beach cleaner that we found it," Greer said.

The parade of Jeeps drew fans down to the beach while others watched from hotel decks, as decorated vehicles sporting flags, banners, and inflatable ducks streamed by.

Rivera, a member of High-Road Jeeps Club of Brevard County, said she discovered that the rubber duckies fit in a dog ball launcher, so she and her friends came to the beach to cheer on Jeep fans and drivers.

"We are just kind of shooting them (ducks) at the Jeeps and trying to get some more smiles out of Jeep Beach Week," Rivera said.

For the most part, the week-long event was safe and successful, officials said.

"We have had more jeeps this weekend than we have in the past years," said Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue Capt. Laura Warner. "We had 10,971 total vehicle entries on the beach yesterday (Saturday)."

The vehicles were largely made up of Jeeps that visited the beach north of New Smyrna Beach, Warner said.

"Most of the complaints we have received the past couple days have been for noise," Warner added.

Likewise, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said Sunday police handled only a few complaints for loud music and parking lot parties.

"Those were the only issues reported throughout the entire event. With that being the case, I would call Jeep Beach Week a safe and successful event," Young said. "They (Jeep Beach participants) have always been a pleasure to host."

As the event rolled to an end Sunday, longtime bikers but first time Jeepers, Haley Copeland and her husband, Jeff Copeland, of Georgia, said the event was great fun.

"It's been a blast," Haley Copeland said. "We usually come down for bike rallies so this is our first Jeep rally. I just love looking at the Jeeps."

"The Jeep has been a lot of fun," Jeff Copeland said. "I can't say it's been an equal replacement (for the motorcycle) but they both have their positives and they both have fun events to go to."

The exact numbers of visitors and vehicles visiting the area will not be known until the end of May but numbers for the week were great, Greer said.

"It has been record setting numbers," Greer said. "Our main event show is Friday and Saturday, so we had over 10,000 Jeeps and 50 to 60 thousand people come to the Speedway."

Greer said she was also happy that the event did not generate major problems for the community.

"We work hand in hand with beach patrol as well as county and city law enforcement, and its been a great, great week," Greer said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jeep Beach Week 2022 in Daytona Beach ends with parade, cleanup