If you love New Jersey's beaches, give a little thank you to the folks driving around with a Shore to Please license plate on their vehicle.

With each $50 purchase fee and $10 renewal fee for the dedicated plate, drivers are contributing to the state's Coastal Protection Trust Fund, which supplies funding for a number of initiatives designed to keep the Jersey Shore clean.

Those initiatives include weekly surveillance flights; water sampling and monitoring; cleanup and maintenance efforts; and the clearing of toilet facilities, among others.

"When you do buy or renew a Shore to Please plate, you are doing a great deal of help by benefiting the beaches for all kinds of activities to keep them in excellent shape," said Caryn Shinske, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The Shore to Please plate, which features an illustration of the Barnegat Lighthouse, is one of 17 dedicated plates in New Jersey — each devoted to a different cause, such as cancer research, wildlife preservation or saving historic buildings.

Due to the multiple options available, there's been a significant decline in revenue earned by the Shore to Please plates, Shinske said.

The plates brought in close to $714,000 in 2011. In 2017, revenue was down to $573,000.

So this summer, the DEP will attempt to increase sales of the special plates by advertising on banner planes set to fly across New Jersey's shoreline. The banner (pictured above) informs residents that "proceeds fund clean beaches," and directs people to njbeaches.org to make a purchase.

According to the latest Fiscal Year 2018 numbers from the state Motor Vehicle Commission, the Shore to Please design is the biggest moneymaker among all of the dedicated plates. The only other plate to bring in at least $400,000 is one devoted to scholarships for children of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

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Contact reporter Dino Flammia at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com.

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