Special Olympics New York held its annual Lake George polar plunge fundraiser this weekend and hundreds of people were “freezin’ for a reason.”
An out-of-season crowd descended on Shepard Park Beach in Lake George Saturday as athletes, coaches, and supporters of Special Olympics New York showed their support for the organization.
Groups and individuals made donations to take a polar plunge – a quick dip into the frigid Lake George waters on a day where temperatures were around 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
The first group to crash was a handful of teachers and faculty members from The Greater Amsterdam School District.
Jessica Verigni organized the frozen group, who were wearing matching, soaked purple jerseys.
“We love Special Olympics, we love doing fun events like this," explained Verigni. "And, you know, we’ve built our team up every single year and it’s awesome to see the community and everybody come together.”
Verigni was one of the more stoic members of her plunging pod.
“It’s cold, it’s not terrible, but it’s cold. Last year was worse, yes, it was worse. Two years ago it was very bad it was raining.”
Some jumpers were less enthusiastic, and less prepared, than others. Brian Thompson and Cole Miller took the plunge with their classmates.
“It’s cold,” said Thompson.
“It’s awesome, I mean, it’s a big community, we’re all here for each other, supporting one another, it’s just an awesome time,” said Miller.
“Yeah, where’s your towels?”
“Somewhere over there,” said Miller.
“I forgot my towel,” said Thompson.
Julie Daniels came from Fort Ann to support the Great Meadows Correctional facility workers, but chose to stay dry.
“Because I’m too old, yes, and I don’t look good in a bathing suit any more – just saying,” said Daniels.
Daniels was offering warm hugs to plungers in desperate need of a thaw.
“And I’m the big cheering squad, I’m cheering everybody as they come out," Daniels continued. "And some – they want a hug. And I say ‘yeah, I’ll give that too.’”
The plunge was a bucket-list item for Heidi Bills, a teacher at Hadley Luzerne High School.
“To me? It was perfect," said Bills. "Oh, I’ve been awake. I took a cold shower before I came to get ready for today.”
Some plungers came dressed in costumes. Randy McCain came as Moses, but was unable to part the waters of Lake George.
“I don’t know, maybe I’m off my game," said McCain. "I didn’t pray hard enough? I’m looking for answers here.”
Kirsten Ross, dressed as what could only be described as Very Cold Barbie, explained how she got herself into the water. On this day, her job was beach.
“You see all these people and you see what the money does for all of these families," explained Ross. "You see the opportunities that it gives these individuals and it’s just amazing, so you forget about the cold.”
Ross, like many of the plungers, had a specific person in mind.
“Our daughter, Kaya, was born blessed with Down Syndrome," continued Ross. "She’s six and a half years old and she is obsessed with Barbie lately, so we picked the perfect theme.”
Chris Hughes, Director of Development for Special Olympics New York, says this year’s turnout was more than double anything he’d seen before.
“Last year was our best plunge ever and we had 590 plungers and we raised $178,000. This year we have 940 plungers and we’ve already surpassed $200,000 raised," explained Hughes. "So, it’s incredible. Just to see these people, it gets you, when you realize why you’re doing it.”
When the dust settled, the plunge raised more than $215,000.
“You know when people sign up for this, they sign up for a reason. And they sign up because they want to support the Special Olympics," continued Hughes. "And we call it ‘freezin for a reason’ because it reminds you why you’re doing it. You know, we’ve got 4,000 athletes just here in the Capitol District, over 40,000 athletes in the state that rely on these donations, you know. When you want to be an athlete in the Special Olympics it doesn’t cost your family, you anything. So, that’s how we fund this.”
In between waves of plungers, I was able to get in the water to see just how cold it was…
I’m gonna do this as quickly as possible. Reporting for the Southern Adirondack Bureau, this is Aaron Shellow-Lavine in Lake George, for WAMC News.
