Residents, students raise more than $72,000 for Special Olympics in Polar Plunge
From superheroes to piglets to tropical tourists, the parking lot of Wayside Central/O’Kelly’s Sports Bar and Grille was packed full of people looking to take the plunge for Special Olympics Michigan.
This year, 431 jumpers participated in the Polar Plunge, raising $72,076. The team that raised the most money was Wesley’s Warriors, contributing nearly $11,000.
Wayside Central/O’Kelly’s was packed with volunteers, jumpers and members of Special Olympics Michigan, including Clare resident Sarah Waite her sons, Wesley and Easton.
“My son Wesley is a Young (Special Olympics) Athlete, so we are here to help raise funds because he enjoys competing so much,” Waite said.
Wesley’s Warriors serves as a way for the Waites and other community members in their Polar Plunge team to raise money for Special Olympics.
“Wesley was born with Down syndrome and we reached out for a group who could be his support group," she said "We found this and joined."
Wesley is five years old and participates in the Young Athletes Program, which gives children ages 2-8 the opportunity to be a part of Special Olympics. He has been participating in Special Olympics since he was four months old, when he attended his first summer games in his mother's arms.
Crews of volunteers, as well as help from Mount Pleasant Fire Department and state, county and campus police, worked throughout the morning to set up the pool and platform for the event.
The pool was estimated to be about 40-42 degrees.
Participants came in costumes of all kinds to show their support for Special Olympics Michigan. The registration booth soon became crammed with people all eagerly waiting to sign up for the plunge.
Dressed in full suits while carrying briefcases members of the team from the Mercantile Bank in Mount Pleasant came out to show their support for Special Olympics Michigan.
“We are doing this because it helps out the Special Olympics. It’s a good way to be involved with the community,” said Tom Sullivan, a commercial credit analysis at Mercantile Bank in Shepherd. “We are here to represent Mercantile Bank. What better way to do that than to dress as bankers?"
The participants were broken up into five color groups and jumped consecutively for an hour. After the last participant made the plunge, a small after party was held inside Wayside Central. A live band performed music while participants of the plunge as well as the volunteers sang and danced.
“The goal is to raise money for the Special Olympics in Michigan in the most fun and active way possible that allows for people to get involved and have fun,” said Aaron Mills, senior marketing and communications director at Special Olympics Michigan. “We raised more money last year doing the plunge than in the previous two year combined.”
The Polar Plunge was previously held at Rose Pond, but has since been moved to the parking lot of Wayside Central/O’Kelly’s. This was done to increase event turnout and make it a more spectator-friendly event.
For the past three years, of the 28 polar plunges held across the state, Mount Pleasant has raised the third largest amount of money in Michigan, behind Detroit and Ann Arbor. Last year, Mount Pleasant raised $79,526. All Polar Plunges combined across the state raise roughly $1 million a year.
