We kicked off Polar Plunge season in Richmond this past Saturday. The inaugural event was held at Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield and featured more than 100 plungers diving into the river to support Special Olympics Virginia athletes.
There were so many members of the Colony that made the Richmond Polar Plunge possible and we want to extend a major thank you to them for their support:
- Sheriff Karl Leonard, detective Lakisha Davis and the entire Chesterfield Sheriff’s Office for their logistics support
- Captain Jerry Pruden with of the Chesterfield County Fire and Ems and his scuba rescue team who kept our plungers safe!
- Pocahontas State Park manager, Ranger Nathan Clark and the friends of Pocahontas State Park
- Greg Green and his team with Davis & Green Electrical
- Lastly, NBC12, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Summit Media for their support and promotion of the return of the Richmond Plunge
Witnessed at every Polar Plunge event are some creative costumes. From Christmas costumes to penguins, Richmond featured a little bit of everything. This made the costume contest extra competitive. When the dust settled the winning costumes were:
- Individual - Emily Bower as Katniss
- Team - Area 6 on Ice dressed as Team COVID
While the costumes and plunging were a blast, the event was all about raising critical funds for Special Olympics Virginia athletes. After plungers reached the initial goal of $40,000, they shattered the new fundraising goal of $50,000 and ended up raising $63,000 for the athletes. Take a look at the fundraising leader board below:
Top Individual Fundraisers | Top Team Fundraisers |
Chelsea Gaughran - $7,133 | SOVA RVA YPB - $33,120 |
Bryan Wilson - $3,995 | Altria Polar Plungers - $10,233 |
Drew Bahen - $3,020 | Area 6 on Ice - $8,089 |
To see photos from the event, click here.