Plunging for special needs
Lynchburg raises money for Special Olympics Virginia by braving icy waters
Students and faculty of Liberty University, and members of the Lynchburg community, took a plunge into frigid waters for a good cause.
Icy waters — Liberty students and Lynchburg residents dove into frigid waters to support Special Olympics. Photo credit: Ruth Bibby
This year’s Hill City Polar Plunge Festival at Camp Hydaway on Feb. 25 raised $22,388 — twice the amount that they were expecting.
“I was really happy with the results,” senior and Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) member Haley Collins said.
Liberty’s PRSSA members helped to promote this year’s Special Olympics Virginia Polar Plunge event.
Although the plunge was the highlight of the festival, games, a costume contest, a concert and enough food to feed the frenzies kept onlookers and plungers occupied throughout the day. Prizes were awarded in the categories of top individual fundraiser and team competition, according to the Polar Plunge’s website.
Special Olympics Virginia is a program that serves more than 10,000 athletes and trains children and adult athletes with intellectual disabilities for free thanks to volunteers, donations and events such as the Polar Plunge, according to their website.
Hill City’s Polar Plunge is a small part of a larger Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics. According to the Polar Plunge’s website, one third of the Special Olympics Virginia’s annual operating budget was met. The goal for the Polar Plunge was $1 million and $1.12 million was raised, which was the most in the plunge’s history.
Liberty University was the first university to host a polar plunge for Special Olympics Virginia in 2009.
“The Polar Plunge Festival supports the Lynchburg community … I feel like Liberty and Liberty students are always doing things to benefit places outside of Lynchburg, which is great, but the Polar Plunge raises money for the Lynchburg Special Olympics,” Collins said.
According to the Polar Plunge website, the event is the largest fundraiser for the Special Olympics Virginia. The cost to plunge was $50, or a team or individual could raise $500 to plunge a professor or coach.
“We’re excited to see what the Hill City Polar Plunge will do next year. It was cool to see all the vendors and the Lynchburg community come out together to support the Special Olympics,” Collins said.
Junior Dana Tweed was a registered plunger who raised money and helped to get donations and find more plungers.
“I have a special needs brother back home who participates in the Polar Plunge and Special Olympics,” Tweed said. “He has been my inspiration to get involved in events such as these. He is a great guy and one of my best friends, so I love getting as involved as I can.”
“It was really touching to see how eager everyone was to get into the water. A part of it might have been how eager they were to get over it, but it was also the support for the cause. The outcome and the giving … it was great to see the support and the enthusiasm and everyone else from the plunge,” Collins said.