Polar Plunge registration open | Community Spirit

It’s time to get ready to be Freezin for a Reason at one of the coolest events in Owensboro. The Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Kentucky will return to the Hines Center for the fifth straight year on Saturday, February 18. Plungers raise a minimum of $75 (or $50 for participants less than 18 years old) and take the leap into the Hines Center lake.

The Polar Plunge, a winter staple in Owensboro for the past seven years, features brave souls – many in outlandish costumes – taking a dip into chilly winter waters to help support the Special Olympics mission of providing sports training and competition opportunities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

The actual Plunge is only part of the event. The day includes a costume contest as well as the Post-Plunge party and awards ceremony at The Hines Center, sponsored by Texas Roadhouse.

Anyone who wants to take the Plunge can pick up registration forms at Texas Roadhouse or any Owensboro US Bank location. Participants can also register on line at soky.kintera.org/2012owensboroplunge, create their own Web page and raise money through the official Owensboro Polar Plunge Web site. Participants can register as individuals or gather a team of friends, family or coworkers and register as a group.

All participants receive the official Polar Plunge T-shirt, but can earn additional prizes for raising more money. Anyone raising a minimum of $250 will be eligible to win a Caribbean Cruise courtesy of AAA Travel. The top male and female fundraisers will be named King and Queen of the Plunge and receive King and Queen for a Day prize packages.  Once again this year, the Plunge will also award the Plunge Prince and Princess crowns to the highest fundraising Plungers between the ages of 6 and 12.

Afraid of the cold water? For the second consecutive year, you can register as “Too Chicken to Plunge”, and raise money to support Special Olympics athletes just like the Polar Bears do. You receive a special Too Chicken to Plunge T-shirt instead of the Official Plunge shirt, but you are eligible for all additional fundraising prizes based on the total you collect.

Registration for the event begins at 9:00 a.m. at The Hines Center. Opening ceremonies kick off at 11 a.m. and plunging begins at approximately 11:30 a.m. Plungers who wish to take part in the costume contest or who think they would qualify as the Plunge King, Queen, Prince or Princess must be registered before 10:30 a.m. to be eligible.

In addition to the fundraising awards, prizes will be awarded to the largest fraternity, sorority or school group, largest law enforcement group, largest corporate group, the top fundraising group and the plunger with the best costume.

The Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics is sponsored by US Bank Development Network, Texas Roadhouse, WBKR-The Country Station, AAA Travel, The Hines Center and the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

The Owensboro Polar Plunge is one of six that will be held statewide this year. Other events will take place in Gilbertsville (Kentucky Dam Village), Lake Cumberland, Lexington, Louisville and Northern Kentucky. The Owensboro plunge set records last year with 165 Polar Bears raising more than $47,000. In all, last year’s six Plunge events raised a record $780,000 to support Special Olympics Kentucky programs and competitions. In just the past four years, Polar Plunges have raised more $2.4 million for Special Olympics Kentucky. Since the Plunge’s inception in 1999, the event has raised nearly $5 million.

All funds raised by the Polar Plunge go to support the more than 6,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities who participate in Special Olympics programs in Kentucky and the more than 2,000 volunteers who help run those programs statewide.

For more information about the Polar Bear Plunge, contact Candace Thompson, Special Olympics Kentucky special events manager, at 800-633-7403 or via e-mail at cthompson@soky.org, or visit www.soky.org.