On Saturday, January 24th over 200 of us braved the elements to make the 10th annual “Keep Winter Cold” Polar Bear Plunge our biggest yet. Neither the rain nor an incredibly high tide could stop us from jumping, wading and even diving into the Potomac River! Plungers were as young as nine and as old as 85, including students, community activists and Franciscan priests.
Together, we raised over $85,000 to support CCAN’s work to move our region off of dirty fossil fuels and to clean energy! We’re truly fortunate to be working side-by-side with so many dedicated activists to fight climate change. Thanks to everyone who plunged with us or sponsored a plunger!
You can find great photos from the day here. Watch this video recap of our 10th annual plunge:

Having now taken part in all ten “Keep Winter Cold” plunges, I had some particularly special highlights from Saturday:

  • A high tide can’t stop us! We’ve never had a plunge at high tide at National Harbor, let alone following significant rainfall. The obstacles we overcame Saturday (like a submerged beach!) reminded me of why we plunge: the seas are rising, and so must we!
  • Rev. Yearwood has never fired me up more. With the words, “One day this generation will say we are fossil free at last!” echoing across the plaza, who wouldn’t be ready to jump into freezing water?
  • Our teams raised more money than ever before. SIXTEEN teams each raised over $1,000, with 350 Montgomery County and Franciscan Action Network leading the pack! Big thanks go to our team captains and everyone who pitched in.
  • Our prize winners really took it to a new level! April Moore, our top fundraiser, won the Green Commuter bike by raising a stunning $4,287. Our second top fundraiser, Lori Hill, won dinner with Mike Tidwell and Rev. Yearwood by recruiting 54 individual donors.

Together, we all made this year’s 10th annual plunge a big success. Once again, many thanks, and let’s keep building a strong climate movement in the Chesapeake region and across the nation.
A big thank you to all of our sponsors for donating generous prizes and keeping us caffeinated and fed:

 

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