(Photo credit: Special Olympics Grande Prairie)

By Nathaniel Leigh

Community

Registration open for Special Olympics Grande Prairie Polar Plunge fundraiser

Jan 8, 2025 | 12:00 PM

Special Olympics Grande Prairie is holding a Polar Plunge fundraising event next month.

You are invited to jump into a pool of cold water to help raise funds for the Special Olympics Alberta Summer Games 2025.

Games Manager Lisa Kerkhof says the polar plunge is recurring event organized by Law Enforcement Torch Run.

“It’s a subsidiary of Special Olympics Alberta and Special Olympics Canada really. So, they are a company that does all kinds of fundraising for Special Olympics specifically. They facilitate these events every year in the bigger municipalities and the bigger cities, but we were able to get a date this year, because we are hosting the Summer Games.”

Kerkhof says the games’ overall fundraising goal is $5,000, but they hope to raise more.

“For hosting the event, we have accommodation, so the athletes will all stay in hotels while they are here. We are paying for those hotels, and the money will go into a pot for accommodations, or the opening ceremonies, just feeding the athletes, one of those three major things is where the money would end up going towards.”

Registration for the plunge is open now at Special Olympics Grande Prairie’s CrowdChange page.

“You can go onto that CrowdChange link, you can register, it’s a $50 registration fee.”

“You can fundraise that money, or you can register yourself, and then from there you’ll get a page you can send out to friends and family or co-workers, to get additional donations and sponsorships to do the event.”

The sign up ends the day of the event, but donations will be accepted afterwards.

It’s happening February 28, in one of the Eastlink Centre’s parking lots.