Penguin Plunge raises $106,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation

The words “shocking,” “amazing” and “incredible” were heard often at the 15th annual Penguin Plunge Saturday afternoon in Ottawa.

And while they could have been used interchangeably, the adjectives most often referred to specific aspects of the 15th annual fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

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Ellen Nabeti (center) and team Simon’s Squad members leap into freezing waters at the 2025 Penguin Plunge Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa. (Ryan Grieves, Ryan Grieves, Ryan Grieves, Ryan Grieves, Ryan Grieves, Ryan Grieves, Ryan Grieves)

Shocking was the word of choice by those braving the 42 degree temperatures and 15 mph winds before and after jumping in to the frigid pond at Skydive Chicago.

Amazing came to mind when considering that 191 benevolent people and 14 complete teams sacrificed their comfort to raise money for such a worthy cause.

Incredible best described the effort that on the day raised more than $106,000 to help make the wishes of children in health distress come true.

Those funds should make 2025 an even better year than last when Make-A-Wish Illinois granted 12 wishes to children just in La Salle County alone, bringing the local effort’s total to 38 since Linda Johnson first initiated the local event 15 years ago.

Bringing in a good chunk of that money was Simon’s Squad, named for Glen Ellyn’s Simon Nabeti who got to experience his wish of going to the Super Bowl before he died this last October.

Only 12 days ago, Ellen Nabeti, Simon’s mother and captain of Simon’s Squad, said her team was sitting at about $14,000, but wanted to get to $20,000 so that MAW would be able to fund two wishes instead of one.

However, his family and friends really came through even better than that, raising and donating the largest sum of any team, $35,000.

“The team really took off at the end,” Nabeti said. “We got a whole bunch of good buddies went to work and we exceeded what we’d hoped, and we’re happy to do it. Simon would have loved this, to see all these people here doing this. These people are amazing.”

Simon would have enjoyed watching his friend, Niko Vardalos, and his sister, Sophia, jump off the dock into the icy waters.

“It was just … shocking. I’ve never been so cold,” Sophia said with a still-shivering chuckle, “but we’re happy to do this, for Simon.”

The timing of the Plunge was perfect timing for the family of Lucas, a 4-year-old boy from Oglesby who has been suffering from cystic fibrosis. Though his wish was originally slated for October but was postponed because of a hurricane, they will ignore the recent snow that’s fallen on Florida and will be leaving on Monday for Disney World in Orlando, where he hopes to see his favorite character, Mickey Mouse.

“This is incredible,” Lucas’ mother, Haley King, said of the event as a whole. “Seeing things like this, it gives you hope, to think that so many people come out and support this.

“We’re just so thankful that this whole thing is happening. I thought it would be we’d tell them what we wanted to do and it would happen, but it’s so much more than that. There’s definitely a lot more involved with this than I realized … It’s been absolutely amazing.”

So overwhelming was the response to the drive that organizers actually ran out of Make-A-Wish participant T-shirts and had to promise to mail them out once more were obtained.

“That’s just a great problem to have,” MAW Gift Officer/Community Programs leader Ashley White said. “We are so honored that everyone could be here today to do something so extreme and brave, to support our brave Wish kids like they do every day in fighting critical illness.

“I wish truly changes a child’s life and your bravery today will make so many wishes come true. Our children need heroes like you. We are so happy we could help make this happen.”