Popular Polar Plunge Fundraiser Will be Held on April 11

Rotary District 7930’s popular Polar Plunge fundraiser has been rescheduled to a final date of Saturday, April 11. The 5th Annual Polar Plunge will be held at Long Beach in Gloucester adjacent Cape Ann Motor Inn. Arrival will be at 10:30 a.m., and the plunge will take place at 11;15 a.m. Satellite parking will be required with free shuttle service.

Originally planned for January 31, the event was initially postponed to Feb. 7, and then March 7 befofe it was rescheduled for the last time to April 11 because of all the snow in January and February.

The event began five years ago when the Gloucester Rotary club offered to play host to rotary clubs in District 7930 by hosting the event in Gloucester. The location is ideal as it gave plungers a place to go to a room and change, and take a hot shower following the event. 

The goals of the first plunge are to raise public awareness of Polio,

Last year’s fundraising total eclipsed $103,000 which was then matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on a two-to-one basis bringing last year’s total to $309,000.

As the event has grown each year, so have the logistics of putting on such an event. Due to the narrow streets and limited parking of the Cape Ann Motor Inn, the event has relied on parking from the parking lot of Long Beach just a couple of miles down the road. Organizations like Cape Ann Transportation Authority and the local YMCA have provided busses and vans to transport plungers and spectators to and from the event from the off site parking. This year’s efforts are being coordinated by Amy Luckiewicz of the Wakefield Rotary Club and Tracy Arabian of the Gloucester Rotary Club.

Several Ways to Make a Donation:

The event will be carried live via internet radio with Rick Moore’s MSO Web Radio viawww.moorestuffonline.com If you would like to make a donation to the Polar Plunge to help those folks in the far corners of the world who have yet to by immunized, make a contribution of any amount to Rotary District 7930 Polar Plunge at Rotary7930.org or by sending a check to Bob Wood Rotary District 7930 Polar Plunge, 11 Rainbow Ridge Way, Georgetown, MA 01834.

Photo Credit: Rotary District 7930