SOMO News

KANSAS CITY – The 20th Annual Kansas City Polar Plunge on Jan. 27, 2024, at Longview Lake Swim Beach was a splashing success, raising $111,613 to date. A total of 480 brave men and women from around the area donned Hawaiian-themed costumes and swimwear to take a chilly dip into Longview Lake. In addition, 11 Super Plungers took the Plunge 24 times in 24 hours to raise an added $52,744. The weekend total came out to $164,058. 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 $10,000 to reach the goal of $175,000. Donations can be made on our online fundraising page here!

“This year’s Polar Plunge had a lot of excitement surrounding it,” Plunge Coordinator Christina McDonough Hunt said. “We’re grateful for all the love and support the community showed by showing up to plunge. We raised more money this year, and our athletes absolutely loved cheering on the plungers. This one has been my favorite plunge to date.”

Top individual fundraisers:

• 1^st Place Fundraiser – Aaron Burks ($4,410)
• 2^nd Place Fundraiser – Remco Obertop & Jason Messerly ($3,210)
• 3^rd Place Fundraiser – Mary Shea ($2,012)
• 1^st Place Super Plunger – Jimi Lakey ($23,084)
• 2^nd Place Super Plunger – Brie Haines ($8,202)
• 3^rd Place Super Plunger – Jenny Wiederholt ($4,275)

Top team fundraisers:

• Top Fundraising Team – Coldpoint Logistics Sub-Zeros ($15,786)
• Top Law Enforcement Team – CU In the Water from Public Safety Credit Union ($14,032)
• Top Fundraising School – Belton Pirates ($10,943)

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.”  Our winners were voted on and chosen by our SOMO athletes!

• Group 1^st Place – Riverside PD
• Group 2^nd Place – Shirley Sue
• Group 3^rd Place – Lee’s Summit North High School
• Individual 1^st Place – Clint Brocato as Axel Rose
• Individual 2^nd Place – Solomon Cole as Hawaiian Guy
• Individual 3^rd Place – Anonymous Polar Bear

SOMO was lucky to have two Plunge Ambassadors helping with this event. Our Plunge Ambassadors for this year’s Plunge were Allen Tobin and Lynna Hodgson. They are both SOMO athletes, and they worked for months to help spread awareness of the Plunge!

“I think the Polar Plunge is a very important event, not only for the athletes, but for everyone to come and see the athletes – see where the money they raise goes, and why it’s important to support Special Olympics Missouri athletes,” Plunge Ambassador Allen Tobin said.

This year’s event was held in conjunction with the Kansas City and Lee’s Summit Police Departments.

Thank you so much to our sponsors!

• Our Tundra Level sponsors are Pipefitters Local Union 533, Metro Air, Northpoint Development, Sunbelt Rentals, Flooring and More, Epic Electric Service Corp., and Bledsoe Rental.
• Our Arctic Level sponsors are Ferrellgas, ORI, Knights of Columbus #6819, and Lee’s Summit Underwater Rescue & Recovery.

For more information about the Polar Plunge, visit www.somo.org/plunge.

Media is welcome to download and use any pictures from our Flickr page here!

Please Note: Polar Plungers are asked to fill out our post-event survey here!