Post date: Nov 3, 2017 6:03:30 PM
The Prep Plungers are ready to be #AFreezinForAReason on Saturday, November 18. So far, the team the team has raised over $16,000 and is well on its way to beating last year's $36,000.
According to polarplunge.com, the Polar Plunge is an event held across the nation in which teams raise money for the Special Olympics. Headquartered in Virginia, the Special Olympics hosts competitions, health services, and athletic training for over 21,000 mentally disabled adults and youth around the world.
The Special Olympic Committee says that their mission is to “transform lives through the joy of sport, every day, everywhere.” By offering sporting competitions, the Special Olympics gives disabled athletes the “opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community,” according to the www.specialolympics.org.
Mrs. Gray, the club moderator says she was pleasantly shocked when she first learned about the Special Olympics since it doesn’t receive much media attention. “It really is like the actual Olympics,” she says. “The athletes travel the world to compete, and the best part is that the families do not pay a single cent.”
The Polar Plunge successfully mixes charity work with fun for its participants. As the name suggests, it culminates with each team jumping into freezing water in the Long Island Sound.
Sophomore Julian Toro, a returning member to the Prep Plungers, remembers running into Long Island Sound last year.
“It was extremely fun, but also extremely cold--colder than I had imagined it would be. It didn’t take me long to realize I should get out of the water before I got sick.
This year will be Iona’s eighth year participating in the Polar Plunge, and for the past seven years, they have raised more money than any other team in the area.
Additionally, the Prep Plungers have won the “Cool School Challenge”, which awards the school that raises the most money with a trophy, every year since its actuation in 2016. The team hopes to keep their streak alive this year
Mrs. Gray attributes the club’s success to the students’ response to her instruction and encouragement. She says, “The reason Iona Prep raises so much money and the reason why we do win the big trophy is because I sit down and teach the students how to do the fundraising. I do it with a big group, I do it one on one.”
Students looking to get involved with the Prep Plungers should see Mrs. Gray in room 210 or donate online at events.nyso.org.
-Michael Bachmann ‘20