Polar plunge set for Saturday
It’s beginning to feel a lot like…not Christmas, but Polar Plunge weather.
The cold of winter and falling snow is setting the stage for the annual Polar Plunge on Jan. 20, a fundraiser for the Chatham-Kent branch of the Special Olympics.
This year, the focus is to raise funds to help run the 2024 Special Olympic Ontario School Championship Games, to be held in Chatham-Kent on June 10-12.
Sgt. Jason Herder of the Chatham-Kent police service, a prime co-ordinator of local Special Olympics fundraising, said everything is falling into place.
“This is our final crunch time. We’re more than halfway towards our goal of $50,000 for the plunge,” he said last week. “Numbers might look like we’re behind from last year, but we’ve done some major fundraising outside of the plunge for the School Championship Games.”
Herder said the cold weather bodes well also.
“Mother Nature is starting to do what she does, and it’s starting to get a little colder,” he said.
No polar plunge is complete without a little “polar.”
For the second year, the event will take place at Sons of Kent. It offers two plunge times, one in the afternoon and one in the early evening.
Herder said there’s a lot going on in between.
Overall, the event begins at 2 p.m., with the first plunge slated to take place about 3 p.m.
After that first dip, the band Poor Man’s Poet will perform.
That will be followed by the second plunge at 6 p.m. and another set of the band.
“We want to make it a large, family-friendly event,” Herder said.
As of press time, more than 120 people had signed up to take the plunge, and plungers can sign up right up to the start of the first event, Herder said. He likes to see good participation.
“We love people in the pool and getting the community together,” he said. “It’s always nice to have a good crowd and everyone have a few laughs.”
Registration is $40 per person, but if you raise $100 or more in pledges, that fee is waived.
Of those signed up, Herder said there is a good mix of new and old.
Some will dip more than once.
“People like myself are gluttons for punishment who keep coming back for more,” Herder said. “I can pretty much guarantee I’ll be going in for both plunges.”
For people who aren’t taking the icy dip, donations can be made at polarplunge.ca, where, under the locations tab, you can click on “Chatham-Kent.” At that point, you can choose to donate to the event in general, or an individual participant.
Last year, the event raised $88,500 and saw 150 people take the dip.
