SOMO News
19th Annual Maryland Heights Polar Plunge raises nearly $100,000 for Special Olympics Missouri
MARYLAND HEIGHTS – The 19th Annual Maryland Heights Polar Plunge on Saturday, Feb. 15 in Maryland Heights was a splashing success, raising $96,773 to date. A total 389 brave men and women from around the area donned costumes and swimwear to take a chilly dip into Creve Coeur Lake. We also had 27 runners come out for our Polar Bear Strut 5k, which raised an additional $2,770 The weekend total came out to $99,543. Their Reason for Freezin’ was the athletes of Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO).
Online fundraising is still ongoing. Donations can be made on our online fundraising page!
“We had a beautiful day for our Polar Plunge,” Plunge Coordinator Kellen Wolters said. “It was amazing to see the St. Louis community come together and raise funds for our Special Olympics Missouri athletes.”
Top individual fundraisers:
- Jason Flanery
Top team fundraisers:
- Top Community Team – Heartland Heroes
- Top Law Enforcement Team – Hazelwood Police Department
- Top Fundraising School – Windsor High School Student Council
Competition for the Golden Plunger was steep this year. Participants were encouraged to come in costume and compete for the chance to take home the “Golden Plunger.”
- Community Group – Heartland Heroes
- Law Enforcement Group – Hazelwood Police Department
- School Group – Festus High School Student Council
SOMO was lucky to have a Plunge ambassador helping with this event. Our Plunge Ambassador for this year’s Plunge was Glenn Plank. He is a SOMO athlete, and he worked for months to help spread awareness of the Plunge!
This year’s event was held in conjunction with the Maryland Heights and Hazelwood Police Departments.
Thank you so much to our sponsors!
- Our Polar Level sponsors are Premiere Rentals, Special School Districts of St. Louis, and Fox2/KPLR.
- Our Tundra Level sponsor is Hollywood Casino.
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!