The Downingtown High School East Special Olympics Club arrives to take the “Cool Schools Plunge” at the annual Special Olympics Philadelphia Polar Plunge at Citizens Bank Park.
Earlier this month, the Downingtown High School East (DHSE) Special Olympics Club took part in the annual Special Olympics Polar Plunge at Citizens Bank Park. The team finished in second place for overall donations, with a total of $12,585 raised by plunge day and $13,273 raised as of mid-February.
The event is a major fundraiser for Special Olympics Pennsylvania and its athletes. In preparation, the DHSE polar plungers collected pledges from friends, family and the community. The students then traveled to Philadelphia to participate in the “Cool Schools Plunge,” where they leapt into a pool of frigid water to show support for the Special Olympics athletes in their school community. The funds raised will be donated to both Special Olympics Pennsylvania and directly to the school to support its Unified Sports programming, which joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team.
“The kids deserve all the credit for organizing and raising funds for this year’s plunge,” DHSE Special Olympics Club faculty advisor Meghan Funderburg said. “They are a wonderful group of student athletes, and the success in fundraising this year is a by-product of their hard work and leadership. I cannot thank their parents enough for also partnering with us, we have an amazing community of people who love to see unified athletics thrive.”
