Chaffee Student Council freezin' for a reason

CHAFFEE — Freezing water, a Hawaiian theme and Cape Girardeau. What could these all have in common? The Polar Plunge.

Chaffee Student Council will be participating in this year's Polar Plunge once again Saturday, Feb. 3, at Cape County Park North Lake, and it is dedicated to raising money for Special Olympics Missouri once again this year.

To participate, each plunger has to raise a minimum of $75. Last year, Chaffee raised the most money out of the schools participating with more than $4,500. So far this year, it has raised just more than $4,300 and is hopeful it can match last year's donations.

Student Council adviser Morgan Swinford said she feels like Chaffee has been participating in the Polar Plunge forever.

"It is one of our biggest organizations that we support in the Student Council here at Chaffee, and as long as I am involved with the Student Council, we will continue to support the Special Olympics," Swinford said. "It's important to us because we've got some kids in our school that participate in the Special Olympics currently, and we hear from them and their parents how much they appreciate what we do here."

Senior Brooklyn Reischman said the Polar Plunge is an important event to her because she knows many people have family members and friends who have special needs. Reischman has been in the Student Council for four years and has done the Polar Plunge since eighth grade. She said she and a friend will be going all the way under the water this year.

Reece VanPelt is a senior and has been a Chaffee Student Council member for three years. She said she is excited about the Polar Plunge and that the team's name is CHS Ohana, calling itself a family.

"I love playing sports and I do it a lot, it's one of my favorite hobbies," VanPelt said. "So I think it's nice that other people who have different needs than I do can be included and the fact that I get to help them do that makes me feel good. I just love that everybody is involved."

This year, Chaffee will have 27 participants taking the plunge — 25 students and two advisers — making them the group with the most members out of the 21 teams, according to the Polar Plunge webpage. Out of all those participating, the student at Chaffee who currently has raised the most is Ayne Held with $404.

"I was at $35 yesterday morning, and after school, for about an hour and a half, I went around town and asked businesses and different people I knew who were kind enough to donate," Held said about how she was able to get donations.

Other than getting donations themselves for Special Olympics Missouri, Chaffee schools have raised money in several ways, such as 50-50 drawings at sporting events, $1 dress-up days and a dodgeball tournament called Dodging for a Cause.

"I'm excited for all these kids to come out and have fun because there are some who have done it and others who have not, and I want them to come see how fun of an event it is. We have so much fun," Swinford said. "I like coming together as a group and just us all getting together and doing something to raise money for such a great cause."

To donate to a team or to Special Olympics Missouri go to www.support.somo.org/event/2024-cape-girardeau-polar-plunge/e521243.