St. Charles Polar Plunge brings record crowd to Ferson Creek Park

Several hundred people took to Ferson Creek Park in St. Charles Sunday morning, March 9, to either take a chilly dip into the Fox River or watch and support the plungers.

As of Monday morning, March 10, the Kane County Polar Plunge event raised a total of $58,900 for the Special Olympics. The team of St. Charles first responders raised $16,125 on its own.

Polar Plunge organizer and St. Charles police officer Jennifer Larsen said the turnout was the biggest they’ve seen so far.

Before the plunge, Larsen handed out the gold and silver plunger awards to the community member and athlete who raised the most funds.

The silver plunger was awarded to Amanda Propheter, an olympian who competes in swimming, golf, bocce, corn hole and snowshoeing. Propheter raised $3,185 before taking the plunge.

The gold plunger was awarded to Steve Mayer, owner of Flagship on the Fox and Duke’s Northwoods. Mayer has won the Golden Plunger four years in a row, and raised $5,800 ahead of this year’s plunge.

This was the second year that the annual event was held in Ferson Creek Park, and Larsen expects to break the event into multiple plunges next year due to space constraints.

Last year, about 80 people took the plunge and about 200 were in attendance. This year 183 people registered to take the plunge, and hundreds more were in attendance.

“The event has gained enough attention and community support that we will probably have to break it into waves next year,” Larsen said. “But that is a great thing.”

Larsen thanked the participants and attendees for all of their support, as well as the volunteers from Northwestern Medicine, Kane County OEM and St. Charles Emergency Management who helped execute the event.

The polar plunge originally started in 1999 in Lake Bluff with 150 plungers raising about $34,000. There are now more than 50 plunge events at locations across Illinois each year.

According to the Illinois Plunge website, this year’s participants across the state have raised $2,438,933 as of March 10. Donations are being accepted through the end of the month and those who wish to support the cause in St. Charles can donate here.

Kane County agencies will continue to raise funds for the Special Olympics throughout the year with events like Cop on a Rooftop on May 16, the Law Enforcement Torch Run in June and the Battle of the Badges softball tournament in August.