On Saturday January 20th, 2024 the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR), in collaboration with the Chatham-Kent Police Service (CKPS) hosted the 7th Annual Polar Plunge fundraiser for Special Olympics Ontario.
This year’s polar plunge brought members of CKPS, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Chatham-Kent Fire Services (CKFS), and Chatham-Kent EMS together with community partners and organizations, in addition to the public for one great cause; supporting the 23,000 athletes in Ontario with an intellectual disability through sport in the Special Olympics.
“This years plunge was unique as it was the premier fundraising event for the 2024 Special Olympics Ontario – School Championship Games hosted in Chatham-Kent from June 10-12th with 100% of the funds raised from this event going towards these games,” organizer Jason Herder, of the Chatham-Kent Police Service, said in a media release.
“Over 200 plungers registered for this event our highest total in the history of the event in Chatham-Kent. Through the efforts of these plungers they received over one thousand donations from the public, which allowed our organization to raise over an unbelievable $70,000 towards the School Championship Games. To date, the LETR Chatham-Kent team have been able to secure $373,000 in fundraising dollars towards the $400,000 budget to run these games.”
Herder added: “We cannot thank our community partners enough for the combined efforts to run an event of this magnitude. We can’t do it without the generous support of the community, and the results of this years event are a direct correlation to the support received by the community of Chatham-Kent towards the Special Olympics. Thank you to the hundreds in attendance who braved the cold Saturday afternoon and evening to participate in this event. We are thankful for the continued partnership with Sons of Kent and their staff for allowing us the opportunity to take over their backyard for the event.”
The 8th annual event is set to come back to Sons of Kent in January of 2025.
More photos can be found, here.
