SOMO News
RELEASE: 9th Annual Springfield Polar Plunge raises nearly $63,000 for SOMO
SPRINGFIELD – The 9th Annual Springfield Polar Plunge on Saturday, March 2 at Ski Shack was a splashing success, raising $62,926.48 to date. A total 150 brave men and women from around the area donned Hawaiian-themed costumes and swimwear to take a chilly dip into Ski Shack Cable Park. Their Reason for Freezin’ wasthe athletes of Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO).
Online fundraising is still ongoing. Organizers of the Plunge still hope to raise an additional $2,100 to reach the goal of $65,000. Donations can be made on our online fundraising page!
“The Plunge was such a success, and we had a blast,” Plunge Coordinator Haley Blevins said. “It was awesome to see so many new faces from the community join us as well as our supporters that continue to come back year after year. Seeing our community support our local athletes is always exciting!”
Top individual fundraisers:
- Monique Carriger
- Logan Flemming
- Kevin Smith
Top team fundraisers:
- Hot Wings
- Springfield Police Department
- Branson Schools
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.”
- 1st Place – Eliza Sitzes
- 2nd Place – Olga Cordero
SOMO was lucky to have three Plunge Ambassadors helping with this event. Our Plunge Ambassadors for this year’s Plunge were Jody Davis, Jeremy Tucker and Justin Tucker. They are all SOMO athletes, and they worked for months to help spread awareness of the Plunge! We also had an additional 10 athletes in attendance that helped throughout the day of the event.
This year’s event was held in conjunction with the Springfield Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop D.
Thank you so much to our sponsors!
- Our Polar Level sponsors are Pinegar Honda, Ski Shack, iHeart Media and KY3.
- Our Tundra Level sponsors are Gold Mountain Communications and SRC Holdings Corp.
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!