A Polar Plunge to help support the 2025 Special Olympics Ontario Summer Games, which will be held across Brantford, the County of Brant and Six Nations of the Grand River this July, will be taking place at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
The big event takes place every year all across Ontario, and helps to support programming and events for 23,000 athletes across the province.
Brant OPP Const. Jonathan Bueckert, OPP Torch Run coordinator, said that after last year’s success, both in fundraising and in attendance, he’s looking forward to another great turnout in 2025.
“We had a few hundred people come out to watch the Polar Plunge at North Park Collegiate last year and it was such a blast to have everyone, especially with nearby students, come out and support,” he said. “With the games coming to the region this year, it seemed only fitting to host the event at the Wayne Gretzky Centre in 2025, and I can only anticipate that we’re going to get a bigger group than we did last year so we’re pretty excited.”
With the Polar Plunge being the main fundraiser for the games, the goal this year is to try and raise $50,000 locally, and as of Wednesday, February 12, the total for Brantford-Brant is currently sitting at $9,650.
Bueckert said that with the event just a little under a month away, there’s still quite a bit of work to do.
“Something we’re really focusing on right now is trying to build awareness. To do that, we’ve been doing a number of pre-plunges since January and we’ve been sharing those on social media,” he said. “We did one at the Tim Hortons Field with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats which was really cool, and then we’ve also been doing a few others at Pinehurst Lake with some of the local athletes and police personnel. The GRCA cut a hole in the ice for us there and the goal with that is just to get athletes out there; give them a little opportunity to talk on camera, and just let people know who will be competing in our community. It’s great because seeing those athletes, with all the challenges that they’ve had to face, jump in and do something hard like that, that keeps me motivated to keep up the work.”
The organizer added that even the students from nearby schools are getting involved.
“The kids really bring the energy. Last year, one of the principals was taking the plunge, and the students were just all fired up,” said Bueckert, with a laugh. “They’ve been doing fundraisers in the schools up until this point, it’s kind of like a loonie drive for whoever they want to see take the plunge the most, and they’ve been doing that in their homerooms and stuff like that. I’m actually planning to go talk to North Park’s leadership class to get them all hyped up, because they always help out on the day of the event and it’s just a great way to get them involved especially with the games coming up.”
On the big day, the event will feature a large metal bin, lined with a tarp, and filled with ice-cold water. Individuals and teams secure pledges in advance of their plunge, but donations can also be put forward during the event.
In the past, several first responders, civilians and community organizations have all participated in the plunge, and while they typically are in and out, Bueckert said there’s a little something special planned for the March 6 event.
“I recently talked to Wendy at Hooton Pool and Spa, and they’re going to be bringing a hot tub out to the event so that our participants can jump out of the cold plunge and right into the hot tub,” he said. “That was really great to hear and I think it’s a good opportunity for them to get their name out there as well. With that being said, there’s a lot of opportunities to get involved like that and I am receptive to all of them. If anyone wants to reach out with an idea like that, they’re welcome to send an email to LETR@opp.ca, to see how they get involved, there’s certainly space for them.”
For any individuals, organizations, and businesses who would like to register to take the plunge this year, should visit https://soopolarplunge.crowdchange.ca/90869 Registration will begin at 1:30 p.m. and plunges will begin at 2:00 p.m.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
