The seventh annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics in Chatham-Kent was a record-breaking success.
Lead Organizer Sgt. Jason Herder with Chatham-Kent police says over 200 people registered before the event started on Saturday, January 20.
That's the highest amount of registered plungers in the history of the event in Chatham-Kent.
"This years plunge was unique as it was the premier fundraising event for the 2024 Special Olympics Ontario School Championship Games hosted in Chatham-Kent from June 10-12," said Sgt. Herder. "All (100 per cent) of the funds raised from this event will go toward these games."
To host the upcoming event, organizers were tasked with raising a total of $200,000 of the $400,000 needed to run the games.
Over the weekend, plungers raised over $70,000, surpassing the event's $50,000 goal.
To date, the Chatham-Kent team has been able to raise $373,000 in fundraising dollars towards the $400,000 budget to run the 13 games.
"We cannot thank our community partners enough for the combined efforts to run an event of this magnitude," said Herder. "We can’t do it without the generous support of the community, and the results of this years event are a direct correlation to the support received by the community of Chatham-Kent towards the Special Olympics."
The eighth annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics will back to Sons of Kent in January of 2025.
