The other day I took some time to really piss off the good people of Wisconsin when I slammed the Milwaukee Brewers’ public relations department for being…well, unoriginal. (You can read about that here.)
I really didn’t mean any offense. But the truth is, Bruce Lee > The Racing Sausages.
However, not everyone in Wisconsin is void of inspiration. Or dauntlessness, for that matter.
You see, the good folks in the Badger State are doing something we Californians (well, me anyway) would never do: Jump into a frozen lake!
Led by former San Francisco Giants pitcher Jack Taschner, the Wisconsin Special Olympics is conducting a major fund-raising campaign across the state to support this fine organization.
For a $25.00 pledge (or any amount, really), Taschner (a self-proclaimed “Plunger Extraordinaire”) and thousands of other Wisconsinites will take the “Polar Plunge” this week. Some will toss their bosses in the water. They’re even letting the kids get in on the act, with 10-and-unders jumping into kiddie pools filled with ice cubes.
The forecast this week in Appleton, Wisconsin? A balmy 19 degrees!
It’s something these crazy Cheese Heads have been doing since 1999, when they held their first Plungapalooza Party at Lake Onalaska. That year, 315 plungers helped raise more than $30,000 for Special Olympics! And ever since then they’ve raised more than $12 million dollars. Shoot, last year alone, over 9,300 people in Wisconsin went “freezin’ for a reason” and helped raise nearly $2 million bucks.
Special Olympics Wisconsin has seven offices that serve the needs of nearly 10,000 athletes across the state. Across the world, over four million kids and adults with intellectual disabilities are able to beat the odds, find joy, confidence and fulfillment, and learn important life skills because of the ongoing work of Special Olympics.
While I, for one, don’t have the gonads to plunge into an icy body of water, my hat’s off to Taschner and the thousands of other “Below Zero Heroes.”
The Milwaukee Brewers’ PR department may be turkeys (when it comes to original ideas for game-day promotions), but I’m a full-blown chicken!
So, while I won’t be cutting a hole in the ice and jumping into a frozen lake anytime soon, I will be donating all of last month’s blog revenue to Taschner’s plunge team! Won’t you join me? Go here to contribute.
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