On Saturday, Feb. 11, Deerfield High School’s Club Unify participated in the 2017 Polar Plunge. Plungers and spectators alike gathered at Cravath Lakefront Park, in downtown Whitewater, around noon on Saturday.
The excitement in the air was palpable as anticipation grew and the participants remained all-too-aware of the 43-degree temperature and the freezing pool of water before them. Their fear and nerves did not get the best of the plungers, though, because they knew that they were jumping for a good cause.
Club Unify members take their Plunge in support of the Special Olympics and people
with disabilities. From left to right: Jayme Fischer, Rain Collar, Makenzie Hollenbeck, Jessica Jacobs, and Olivia Graffin
The Polar Plunge is an event that was created in order to raise awareness for people with disabilities. Through this event, donations are made toward the Special Olympics and tolerance is promoted through the bonding of strangers as they unite for a single cause. Likewise, DHS’s Club Unify was also created for this noble purpose. According to club members Hannah Rotondo and Makenzie Rosol, Club Unify was created in order to support and spread awareness of people with physical and intellectual disabilities. This is Club Unify’s second year participating in the Polar Plunge. Through the hard work of the club, Deerfield High School was able to donate $2,725.46 to the Special Olympics, contributing to the $540,539 already raised in Wisconsin, and ranking Club Unify in fourth place among the other Whitewater Polar Plunge teams, according to polarplungewi.org.
When it was Deerfield’s turn to take the plunge, Club Unify had broken into three groups. Two of these groups consisted of nine DHS students, while the third group was made up of DHS staff members. All three groups participated with smiles on their faces as they took the plunge in support of the people most affected by disabilities.
via Madeline Fuerstenberg Cambridge News / Deerfield Independent