SOMO News
18th Annual Kirksville Polar Plunge raises over $17,000 for Special Olympics Missouri
KIRKSVILLE – The 18th Annual Kirksville Polar Plunge on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville was a splashing success, raising $17,500 to date. A total of 89 brave men and women from around the area donned costumes and swimwear to take a chilly dip into Thousand Hills. Their Reason for Freezin’ was the athletes of Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO).
Online fundraising is still ongoing. Organizers of the Plunge still hope to raise an additional $8,000 to reach the goal of $25,000. Donations can be made on the Kirksville Plunge Page.
Top individual fundraisers:
- 1st Place – Macie Hocker
- 2nd Place –Kayla Purnell
- 3rd Place – Patty Sutton
Top team fundraisers:
- Top Fundraising Team – Team Macie
- Top Law Enforcement Team – Moberly Cert
- Top Fundraising School – Truman State
This year, competition for the Golden Plunger was steep. Participants were encouraged to come in costume and compete for the chance to take home the “Golden Plunger.”
- Group 1st Place – Team Mahomes
- Group 2nd Place – Team Macie
- Group 3rd Place –Moberly Cert
- Individual 1st Place -Jared Neimeyer
- Individual 2nd Place – Ash Heath
- Individual 3rd Place – Macie Hocker
SOMO was lucky to have three of our Plunge Ambassadors helping with this event. Our Plunge Ambassadors for this year’s Plunge were Patty Sutton, Heather Lammers, and Jared Niemeyer. They are all SOMO athletes, and they worked for months to help spread awareness of the Plunge!
“I always plunge and have a great time,” Sutton said. “You would too if you came out to take the Plunge!”
This year’s event was hosted by the Linn County Sheriff’s Department, MO Department of Conservation, and the Department of Natural Resources.
Thank you so much to our sponsors!
- Our Tundra Level sponsors are Equity Bank and Adair County Prosecuting Attorney David Goring.
For more information about the Polar Plunge, visit PlungeMO.org.
Media is welcome to download and use any pictures from our Flickr Page .
Please Note: Polar Plungers are asked to fill out our post-event survey here!