‘Let me win, but if I can not win, let me be brave in the attempt,’ the Special Olympics oath, rings out across the crowd before dozens of Polar Plunge participants jump into the frigid waters of Campus Lake.
The SIU Touch of Nature Polar Plunge was hosted at the SIU Campus Lake on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. Around a hundred people gathered in the 35 degree weather at the boat house pavilion all with a goal – to raise $40,000 for Special Olympics Illinois. The event raised $38,000 at the time of the event, and the amount keeps rising.
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As participants ran down a snowy slope and into the lake, organizer Jaedyn Beers announced the team names out to the rest of the crowd. Beers, only six months into her position with the Special Olympics, organized and hosted the event for the first time after participating for seven years prior.
“It just warms my heart to see that people are here to jump into a lake that has been frozen for Special Olympics,” Beers said. “It’s just really cool.”
The event lived up to its polar name after a layer of ice left behind from a midweek snowstorm that hit the area left the lake frozen solid. Just before the event, the Franklin County Dive and Rescue Team braved the frigid temperatures to break out a section of the ice for the event to take place.
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“In all the years I’ve been doing it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one this cold,” Beers said.
Several groups and individuals registered to take the plunge. Dressed in a polar bear onesie topped with a golden plunger on her head, Special Olympic athlete Valerie Densler raised thousands of dollars leading up to the event and participated for her 11th year in Carbondale since she began in 2014.
Murphysboro resident Stacy Reed, dressed like Minnie Mouse, raised $10,865 for the fundraiser this year. This wasn’t her first polar plunge, with 15 years of experience she raised the most individual money for this year’s event.
“I love to do this cause because I can’t run a marathon, so it’s something I can give back,” Reed said.
Participants and donors from the event came from all around southern Illinois, including the Feather Hill Winery, some SIU sororities and fraternities and the SIU athletic department. Saluki Football, a long time supporter of the Special Olympics, brought a group of athletes to make the plunge.
Saluki Football partners with Special Olympics throughout the year from volunteering at the Duck Derby that takes place at the Du Quoin State Fair in August to the Tim Tebow Foundation’s Night to Shine event in Herrin.
“I feel like physically being here is a good way to show support,” Director of Saluki Football Operations Chris Gillespie said. “Actually being on the scene and not just being a supporter from the stands. Actually getting out here and getting in the water and fellowshipping with everyone that wants to support something cool like Special Olympics.”
Originally to be hosted at SIU Touch of Nature, the event was moved to the SIU Campus Lake following the draining of Little Grassy Lake, but that did not stop the involvement of Touch of Nature. Several volunteered to help out and to jump into the frigid lake in support.
“It’s been really fun to see the program change a little bit,” Stacy Pogue, the assistant director at SIU Touch of Nature, said. “And we’re hoping by moving to campus lake, we’ll get more people from SIU through Special Olympics.”
Since the draining of Little Grassy Lake, programs such as the Polar Plunge have been impacted.
“We’re just adapting to what we came with, and that’s going to happen with all our programs,” Jack Datus, Touch of Nature program assistant to hospitality, said. “We’re learning how to go without our lake right now.”
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