When thinking about activities to do this winter season, most people certainly don’t put jumping into a freezing cold pool of water in February at the top of their to-do list.
Yet more than 50 groups, including UW-Whitewater students, residents and visitors, will be doing just that on Saturday at the 2011 Polar Plunge.
This won’t be the first time the Delta Zeta sorority plunging group has jumped into the ice cold pool, bikini-clad no less.
“I became interested in the Polar Plunge when our Fundraising Chair, Emily Pinzl, brought it up to our chapter and asked some of our members to get involved,” first-time polar plunger and sophomore Alyssa Colboth said.
Along with Colboth, other plunging members of the team include senior Caly Schroeder, juniors Molly Riley, Stacey Hanke and Jessica Cook, sophomores Lindsay LaPlant and Tara Hoffman, and freshman Krissy Kuhn. The girls said they are excited for the experience and also for having the opportunity to get involved with the Special Olympics.
“Saying that you jumped into freezing cold water to benefit such a great foundation like the Special Olympics is a great feeling,” Colboth said.
The Polar Plunge, an annual event held all over Wisconsin since 1999, is a nationwide fundraiser to benefit local Special Olympic athletes.
“I want to support and raise awareness for an amazing cause by meeting our team goal of raising $350 and showing off my cannon ball with my sisters,” Schroeder said.
At last year’s Polar Plunge in Whitewater, 258 participants raised more than $35,000 for Special Olympics, according to the Special Olympics Wisconsin website.
Those not willing, able or brave enough to take the dip can still register as a “chicken” by raising money and watching the Polar Plunge from the sidelines in a “Too Chicken to Plunge” t-shirt.
