Staff Members Take the Plunge—and Raise Thousands for Special Olympics Maryland 

Click here for a photo gallery of the event.
Photos by Chip Dizárd

Cold temperatures didn’t stop brave staff members from dipping in the Chesapeake Bay. On Jan. 30, during a snowstorm bringing five inches to the Baltimore area, employees from Lakeland Elementary/Middle School and the Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) Office of Special Education put on their swimsuits, walked barefoot across the beach and charged into the waters at Sandy Point State Park. The event, known as the 2010 Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge, brought together thousands of people across Maryland to raise money for Special Olympics Maryland.

Says Jacqueline Fonseca, a secretary and community liaison at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School, whose 19 plungers raised $3,000 for the event: “It was truly the most awesome experience of my life—first was the rush of the cold weather, second was the reason we were there. We wanted to give back.”

Executive Director of the Office of Special Education Kim Lewis didn’t just plunge once. She signed up as one of only 63 “super plungers” and took 24 dips in 24 hours. “It was a joy, it was terrifying and it was every emotion rolled into one,” Lewis says. “I stood out there in the dark with snow falling from the sky and the beach icing over, and I knew people driving across the bridge wondered what on earth we were doing.”

But the super plungers knew. Together, they raised more than $500,000 dollars, with Lewis bringing in pledges of close to $10,000. The pledges continue to come in.

“I’m glad I did it,” Lewis shares. “It was a big physical and mental challenge, but the support from the City Schools community was amazing. We have 2000 student athletes in Special Olympics Maryland and many national and world champions. They’re very talented kids.” And worth the effort.