Polar Plunge kicks off outside Heinz Field to raise money for Special Olympics Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH — Between Friday and Saturday, close to 1,500 people will jump into frigid pools outside Heinz Field with the goal of $450,000 for Special Olympics Pennsylvania.

Students, faculty and staff from schools across the region kicked off the Polar Plunge on Friday morning.

Fox Chapel led the way in school donations, racking up more than $17,000 to benefit 16,000 Special Olympic athletes statewide.

“Inclusion is our mission. We do it through sports, health and fitness programming and leadership,” said Andrew Fee, who works for Special Olympics.

He is also among the Super Plungers who set out Friday to jump in the icy waters two dozen times.

“Super Plunge is eight hours, so 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., plunging every 15 minutes, so 24 times total,” explained Fee.

The general public will get their chance to plunge on Saturday alongside a number of law enforcement teams.

Everyone is grateful for the opportunity to host this event in person again after going virtual last year.

“This has been two years in the making. We didn’t do it last year and it was a bummer,” said Andrew Cader, the director of strategic fundraising for Special Olympics Pennsylvania.

If you’d like to donate, CLICK HERE.

Pittsburgh area weathering higher prices after Russian invasion of Ukraine

©2022 Cox Media Group