Polar Bear Plunge cancelled, but they still need your support

I was saddened to hear that the 28th Polar Bear Plunge in Seaside Heights will be cancelling their in-person plunging this year. I’ve been fortunate enough to be the voice of the plunge for 25 of the 28 years. I’ve watched this event climb and grow way beyond expectations in raising needed monies for Special Olympics New Jersey.

The success of the event has been largely due to the support of the Law Enforcement community who always step up to help the cause. Last year over 8,000 people jumped into the 35 degree waters of the ocean to raise an incredible $2.5 MILLION!! That is just an incredible amount of money. Seaside Police Chief Tommy Boyd estimated the crowd at close to 50,000 people who came out to enjoy the festivities.

I did my broadcast from atop the second floor of the Spicy Cantina right on the boardwalk with the best seat in the house overlooking the big event.. It’s a day of fun, camaraderie and philanthropy as raising $2.5 million for Special Olympics is what it’s all about.

I am a big fan of Special Olympics New Jersey. They operate by applying close to 90% of all the monies collected going straight to the many programs and sports activities that serve the over 26,000 Special Olympic athletes. That is an incredible statistic and one of the reasons why I lend my support.

So this year became a challenge knowing that the Plunge couldn’t take place because of the state edicts on social distancing, numbers of people allowed to gather and it wasn’t prudent to do the event. What Special Olympics came up with is a Virtual Polar Bear Plunge. Similar to the individual “Ice Bucket Challenge” the virtual Polar Bear Plunge will be a way that we can still collect needed funds for Special Olympics.

There’s a whole list of ways that you can virtual plunge. As you are well aware we’ve had to make changes every day to the activities that we enjoyed back in 2019. The fact still remains charities such as Special Olympics New Jersey continue to need your help.

Please support them this year. Whether you virtual plunge or not your donation matters. Thank you for stepping up as you always do and here’s to the 29th Annual Polar Bear Plunge next year, bigger and better than ever.