Effingham Polar Plunge raises $39K for Special Olympics athletes

Feb. 26—Residents gathered at Lake Sara on Saturday for the 2024 Effingham Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge, which helped raise a total of approximately $39,000 for Special Olympics Illinois athletes. That's about $10,000 more than last year.

A total of 204 participants, approximately 50 more than last year, took the chilly plunge into the 40 degree water at Lake Sara. By the end of the event, $38,500 had been raised, according to preliminary totals, which is over $10,000 more than last year's fundraising total.

"We're also up almost $8,000 at this point in time so that's nice," Effingham Polar Plunge Assistant Director Vanessa Duncan said just minutes before the Polar Plunge officially began.

Funds raised from the event will allow Special Olympics Illinois Region 1 to continue covering the costs athletes would have to otherwise pay themselves in order to train and participate in local, state and national competitions. This includes the cost of hotel stays for athletes.

"The fact that all this $30,000+ is raised for these athletes to have free sports competitions, training and events throughout the year, and then to see and hear, 'Oh, that's why you're plunging into freezing cold water, for those opportunities for those athletes,' that's awesome," Duncan said. "That's my favorite thing about it."

Several Special Olympic athletes took part in the Polar Plunge this weekend, including Beth Braundmeier, 39, of Watson, and Tyler Ludwig, 35, of Sigel, who both were part of the Effingham County Lightening plunge team.

"It was cold, but it was good," Braundmeier said afterward.

"It wasn't as cold since it was warmer out this year," Tyler Ludwig said.

In addition to playing basketball on the Effingham County Lightening, Ludwig and Braundmeier both play volleyball, and Ludwig's mother, Lori Ludwig, said the sport is now unified within Special Olympics Illinois which has allowed her to play volleyball with her son for several years.

"It's so much fun," Lori Ludwig said.

Volleyball and basketball are just a couple of the 18 sports Special Olympics Illinois offers that Tyler Ludwig participates in. He said his personal favorite is track and field. He also said he recently took part in a fairly new event for the Special Olympics for the first time.

"This year, they just started it. So it wasn't an actual competition, but they did the bags, the cornhole, tournament," Tyler Ludwig said. "They said they might add it here in the coming years once they get everything figured out with it, how it's going to work for Special Olympics."

Among the total of 23 teams from across the region who took the Polar Plunge Saturday was Bottoms Up!, a group of family members and friends who dressed as characters from "Scooby-Doo."

"We were like, 'What would be a good costume idea for five people? Scooby-Doo and the gang,'" Bottoms Up! team member Matt Greuel of Windsor said Saturday.

Bottoms Up! team member Jennifer Greuel, also of Windsor, said she and others in the group began taking part in the Polar Plunge with a team called Nicholas' Numb Skulls several years ago, and they've been getting groups together to plunge with ever since.

"Nicholas Carroll had Down syndrome, and we started plunging with his family," she said.

Some in the group have been taking part in Polar Plunges for more than a decade, but taking the plunge Saturday was a first for team members Neil Kachuba of Nashville, Illinois and Darlene Temples of Lerna. However, Matt Greuel said regardless of how many times he takes the plunge, he doesn't know if he'll ever get used to the cold water.

"This is my thirteenth time, and I still get nervous," Matt Greuel said. "You just take a deep breath and do it."

After every participant took the plunge at Lake Sara, residents gathered at the Effingham American Legion Post 120, where awards for the event were presented to participants, and the preliminary fundraising total was announced. Awards were presented by Polar Plunge Ambassador Kim Stiver, who also recited the plunge oath during the event.

Award winners included the Neoga-Sigel Indians, who won a Golden Plunger Award for raising more funds than any other team with a total of $4,025 raised. The award for the best team costume went to Illinois State Police Troop 9 for their outfits based on characters from "Saturday Night Live" during the 1990s.

Additionally, the Top Cop Trophy went to Chris Thies, who raised $3,200. The Top Team Award went to the Too Cool to Be Cold team for raising a total of $4,250, and Keith McMahon won the Golden Plunger Award for raising the most of any individual with a total of $1,215.

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.

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