Brewerton — Nearly three dozen CSEA members and their friends got bold in the cold, taking the Polar Plunge into Oneida Lake on a very chilly December day, raising more than $12,000 to support the athletes who participate in Special Olympics.
It was the ninth time our CSEA activists have participated in the plunge, which celebrated its tenth anniversary plunge this year. Over the past eight years, CSEA members from throughout Central New York have raised more than $136,000 to benefit Special Olympics, with more than 225,000 raised statewide during that same period.
The CSEA “Polar Peeps” team was honored to follow into the water a team of Onondaga Corrections Officers, members of our Onondaga County Local, who plunged in memory of their former co-worker and union member Mark Kaminsky, who died unexpectedly this past October. Kaminsky was a corrections officer who had long supported the Special Olympics through their Law Enforcement Torch Run and Cops on Top fundraisers.
CSEA Central Region President Colleen Wheaton, who was out of town during the plunge, praised the CSEA members for their support of Special Olympics through the plunge.
“We are so proud of our members stepping up to support the athletes who take part in the Special Olympics,” she said. “We get a little crazy with our plunge, but it’s for such a great cause. I thank all our plungers for their hard work and dedication.”
Anyone wishing to donate to the CSEA Polar Peeps team can continue to do so by visiting our team page.
Please enjoy this photo gallery of photos from CSEA’s plunge. Photos © 2016 CSEA Communications Specialist Mark Kotzin.
