*This article was originally published in the 2022 January/February edition of Missouri Life magazine.The event is now on its 28th year.
It’s a quick dip to be sure. Not many want to linger in the frigid Missouri waters in winter for more than a few minutes, but they will jump in for a good cause.
Now in its twenty-sixth year, the Polar Plunge is the Law Enforcement Torch Run’s primary fundraiser for Special Olympics Missouri, accounting for the lion’s share of LETR’s million-dollar-a-year fundraising total. The funds support athletic competition leadership training, health and wellness programs, and more for Special Olympics Missouri athletes.
More than 1,500 frosty folks participated at eleven Polar Plunge lake and pond sites last year throughout Missouri. How cold does it get? Local fire departments are occasionally called on to break the ice so the plungers—sometimes dressed in costumes and sometimes barely dressed—can get to the water. These are brave souls.
162 total plungers took a dip in Lake Saint Louis; some people donned costumes for the event. • Special Olympics MissouriA foggy day in Kansas City didn’t keep 328 plungers from jumping in to Smithville Lake; arctic dippers at this location raised the most funds, $95,242, during the 2021 Polar Plunge fundraising season. • Special Olympics MissouriCalifornia, Missouri, high school students took the plunge at Lake of the Ozarks, along with some two hundred other brave souls. • George Denny A lei-adorned plunger at Cape County Park North in Cape Girardeau might have had warmer weather on his mind to offset the cold. • Special Olympics MissouriFive of 188 plungers jump in the cold water of Creve Coeur Lake in Maryland Heights. • John FreyA shrimp, a jellyfish, and a crab ease into the water. • John FreyOne Maryland Heights plunger goes all in. • John FreyFrom top, a boy gets hosed off during the plunge at Bass Pro Shops Lake in Columbia. • Special Olympics MissouriKids take a plunge in the tank made for junior plungers in Chillicothe at Simpson Park. • Special Olympics MissouriSafety teams watch Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop B’s venture into Forest Lake at Thousand Hills State Park at Kirksville. • Special Olympics Missouri
This article was originally published in the 2022 January/February edition of Missouri Life magazine.
