Jumping into freezing cold water with low weather temperatures may seem like a bad idea, but if it’s for a good cause, it’s worth it to some Freedom staff members.
The second annual Polar Bear Plunge in Bridgewater was held on Jan. 11 in the afternoon. Freedom staff members Dr. Jeffrey Fuller, Mr. Aaron Fitzpatrick, Mr. William Saludis and Ms. Katherine Gigl among 11 others took the plunge. The team was made up of Freedom staff, community and school board members.
When Gigl heard about a Freedom team, she decided to participate because of the cause.
“I had never done [the Polar Plunge] before and I always wanted to do it,” Gigl said.
Unlike Gigl, Saludis is a plunge returner. He has plunged in West Virginia and Pittsburgh; this was his first time plunging for Beaver County. Saludis participates in the plunge because “raising money for charity is the best thing. It’s a good cause.”
Fuller had the idea to begin “Team Freedom” a week before Christmas break. According to Fuller, New Brighton challenged Freedom in fundraising for the plunge. Fuller also had personal reasons to create a team.
“I’ve always thought about doing a plunge but never had the nerve to do it,” Fuller said.
Furthermore, Fuller has insight into what the money was being raised for. “My mother was a high school special education teacher when I was growing up,” Fuller said.
All of “Team Freedom’s” donations put them in a final spot of second place with a total of $4,627. All of this donated money goes towards Pennsylvania’s Special Olympics.
“I think we’ve had a great response from our community. We are very excited about the response we’ve gotten for the event,” Fuller said. The team raised money by emailing friends and family members. Fuller even personally posted on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Check-in for the plungers was between 10:00 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. at Bridgewater Landings. Each participant received a wristband, plunge wave assignment and free event t-shirt. The plungers had to come prepared with their plunge gear and a bag of dry clothes and towels.
Before the day of the plunge, Fuller was feeling “nervous mainly because as of [Friday] morning, the river [was] still frozen over. I [was] also a little concerned about how cold the water [was] going to be. I [was] looking forward to getting it over with.”
Freedom was wave 10 out of 15 and after the event finished, all of the teammates put on dry clothes and then were permitted to leave.
After taking the plunge, Fuller decided that it wasn’t as bad as he expected after all.
“It was great [and] a lot of fun. It wasn’t as bad as I had myself psyched up to think it was going to be, but it was very cool.” In the end, the weather held up and the rain ceased for the annual Beaver County Polar Plunge.