Polar plunge raises money for Special Olympics

It’s not unusual for college kids to do things that’re a little out of the ordinary, but when they jump into a lake fully clothed today (Saturday), it’ll be for a good cause. Chuck Reed of the Iowa Special Olympics says Iowa State University students and others are ready for the seventh annual “Polar Bear Plunge.” He says they do it with the I-S-U Greek community as part of the Greek Olympics. He says they’ll have a record 400 or so people jumping into Lake LaVerne. The forecast indicates the plungers might not need polar bear type coat this year.He says the temperatures are supposed to be in the 60’s and he’s tempted to call it a “solar plunge,” but he says the water temperature will still be in the 50’s. Reed says past plungers have needed a little hot chocolate once they got out of the water. He says the very first year they held the plunge, the temperature of the water was 34 degrees. Reed says the plunge will raise over 20-thousand dollars to go toward funding the Iowa Special Olympics Summer Games. Reed says additional plungers are welcome. They’ll hit the water at five o’clock tonight.