Second-Graders Ready To Take First Plunge For Special Olympics

CHICAGO — Sloan Kredens and Eden Grossman, two best friends from the Beverly-area, have asked for donations to their Chicago Polar Plunge team, instead of presents for their eighth birthday. Sloan and Eden will be hosting a birthday party for their second-grade classmates on February 26.

The best friends forever are both first-time plungers, and will be plunging with Parker’s Party, one of the larger teams at the 2022 Chicago Polar Plunge. The girls attend St. Barnabas School with their friend Parker Baudo, for whom the team is named, a sixth-grader who has Down Syndrome. The team was started in 2017 by Parker’s former teacher at St. Barnabas, Grace Sadowski.

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Sloan and Eden are currently the top-fundraisers for Parker’s Party, raising over $1,500. Over the last five years, Parker’s Party has raised over $62,000 for the Chicago Polar Plunge.

The Chicago Polar Plunge will take place in-person, with a virtual option also available, on Sunday, March 6 at North Avenue Beach. The polar plunge is the largest and most important fundraiser of the year for the Special Olympics Chicago/Special Children’s Charities program. All money that is raised at the event stays in the city of Chicago and is used to fund the activities, events and competitions enjoyed by thousands of athletes with intellectual disabilities.

You can donate directly to Eden and Sloan’s personal fundraising page for the Parker’s Party team on the 2022 Chicago Polar Plunge website.