By CARA LORELLO
Staff Reporter
Scantily clad citizens braved wind, snow, ice and freezing water for a good cause last Saturday in Medical Lake during the city police department-sponsored Polar Bear Plunge benefiting the Special Olympics of Washington (SOW).
The plunge raised $6,842.77 in donations through the event, which was the police department's first fundraising project for SOW this year.
An estimated 49 participants, including several city employees, police and fire department officers turned out, plus a number of local businesses, organizations and volunteers contributed food, shelter, and assistance before, during, and after participants took to the water around 12:30 p.m.
“On behalf of the Medical Lake Police Department, we just wanted to say thank you to everyone who made this event not only a possibility, but such a great success,” said Medical Lake Police Department administrative assistant Jennifer Willoughby.
“We are overwhelmed by the amount of support that we received; it's great to see such a small community raise so much money for such a worthy cause.”
Local event and promotions manager for SOW, Nicole Graichen, also expressed her thanks to the staff of MLPD, the main coordinators behind the day's activities.
“We're so thankful for the Medical Lake Police Department and their continued support,” she said.
Apart from the dunking festivities, the Polar Bear Plunge held a number of contests and prize giveaways for its participants and attendees, the results from which are as follows:
Contest categories winners – MLPD officer Jacob Keith, zaniest costume; MLPD Chief Tony Harbolt, skimpiest
costume; Medical Lake Mayor John Higgins, most original
costume; Rich Graichen, best polar climate costume; Spokane County Sheriff's Office Deputy Tom Litts, best law
enforcement costume; Terry Carver, age 61, oldest plunger award; Julia Brown, age 11, youngest plunger award.
Prize recipients – MLPD Chief Harbolt, top fundraising adult;
Julia Brown, top fundraising youth; Numerica Credit Union, top fundraising group; Eastern Washington University volleyball team, top recruiter of Polar Bear Plungers for a team.
MLPD would also like to recognize the businesses, organizations and individual volunteers who contributed
services to the event: Westside Pizza, Bruchi's of Medical Lake, Medical Lake Pizza Factory, Fairchild Air Force Base,
Jessica Roberts of the city of Medical Lake, Bob Levan of Spokane, volunteers of the Medical Lake Sheriff Community Oriented Policing Effort, American Medical Response, and Medical Lake Fire Department.
Cara Lorello can be reached at clorello@cheneyfreepress.com
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