Community plungers raise more than $65,000 for Special Olympics


BRRRR! Hundreds of community members plunge into icy waters for Special Olympics


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Midland native Zachary Leonard soars through the air during the Special Olympics Polar Plunge fundraiser on Feb. 15 in the Wayside Central Parking lot.

Mount Pleasant community members raised more than $65,000 on Saturday, Feb. 16 to help fund Special Olympics Michigan during this year’s Polar Plunge.

About 300 people took the plunge into a freezing pool of water in support of the Special Olympic program and the many athletes that participate in it. 

The Polar Plunge is an annual event held in Michigan during which plungers and spectators donate money to charity. Many participants will form groups to raise more money and dress up in costumes or come up with themes for their team. 

This year saw an increase in plungers and in donations from last year, where about 250 plungers took the dive and $60,000 was raised. 

Many groups wore costumes including "The Wizard of Oz," superheroes, tropical tourists and other characters. 

Adult Special Olympics athlete Eugene Comstock was the first to take the plunge. He has been plunging for 11 years. Although he wasn’t able to jump into the water, his team dressed as “hillbillies” jumped for him and then helped him walk back down the stairs of the diving platform. 

Dax Smitt, 22, Mount Pleasant, took the plunge with a group of his coworkers dressed as superheroes. 

“We felt like superheroes for helping to support the Special Olympics, so we thought that we would dress like them,” Smitt said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Community members began diving at 11:30 a.m. The weather outside was about 20 degrees and the water temperature in the pool was just below 40 degrees. 

Julia Wysee, a 54-year-old from Clare, was in the first wave of people to dive into the water. 

“The water was only 37 degrees?” she asked, surprised. “It felt like it was so much colder. But it was so fun and very worth it, a friend of mine has a cousin that participates in Special Olympics and she loves it so much.”

As plungers lined up to jump, they nervously talked to each other and tried to hype themselves up. As they stood on the platform, many hesitated before jumping in and coming out gasping at the cold. 

One of the groups of plungers who didn’t hesitate at the platform was the Mount Pleasant Public Safety officials. Once it was clear to jump in, each official jumped in with no problem, some even belly-flopped into the water and splashed spectators in the front row. 

One lone plunger described the jump as intense, but fun. 

“It was so intense and cold, and I expected the water to be cold, of course, but it’s a shock to the body,” said 30-year-old Mount Pleasant resident Tom Helding, “It was crazy in the moment, but afterward, when I was out of the water and I remembered that the donations are going to a great program and I would do it many times over with that in mind.”

Once plungers dried off and got warm, pizza and hot coffee and hot chocolate were offered. Awards were given out to plungers who raised the most money and for those with the best costume. 

"The event went great," said plunge organizer Andrea Rachko. "We couldn't do this event without our local community support, the support of CMU and our local law enforcement departments and the fire department."

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