By At noon on Saturday, Feb. 14, the Helena community jumped into icy cold water in an above-ground swimming pool to raise money and awareness for people with intellectual disabilities.
The annual Helena Sweethearts Passion Plunge was located at the East Helena Town Pump, said Amy Bliss, a Special Olympics employee. The fundraising plunge events are held statewide across 14 locations, each with its own name, date, and time.
“It’s just once a year per community,” said Bliss. “Each plunge has its unique plunge name.”
Community members either spectated, registered individually to jump, or created plunge teams to help raise money, said Bliss.
“Anybody’s welcome to create a plunge team and help us raise money,” said Bliss. “We typically have quite a few spectators who come out and watch and support the plunge.”
When organizing and planning the event, Special Olympics partnered with The Law Enforcement Torch Run, Bliss said, which is the largest grassroots fundraiser for Special Olympics.
“The Torch Run’s mission is to partner with law enforcement agencies to help raise money and awareness for Special Olympics specifically,” said Bliss.
The Carroll College Special Olympics Club attended the event and reached its fundraising goal of $1,000, said Co-presidents Ella Hubach, a senior environmental science major from Seward, Nebraska, and Tucker Zanto, a senior accounting and strategic planning major with a financial planning minor from Helena.
“We hit it right on the mark, so that’s pretty cool,” said Zanto.
After they jumped into the freezing water and changed in nearby warming tents, Hubach and Zanto both said they felt cleansed and renewed.
“I feel invigorated. I needed a nap before, but now I don’t really need a nap,” said Hubach.
All of the proceeds from this event benefited both local communities and Special Olympics, said Bliss.
“Sixty percent of the funds raised stay in local communities, and then 40% come to us at the state office,” said Bliss.
Although the event has passed, fundraising for Special Olympics is still open online through this link https://go.somt.org/26Sweetheartpassionplunge .
