After a year off due to COVID, it was back to North Avenue Beach today for Special Olympics Chicago’s 22nd annual Polar Plunge. WBBM’s Nancy Harty was there as thousands of people jumped in the lake for charity.
The Shannon Rovers led plungers into a chilly Lake Michigan, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who describes her first time plunging.
This was the ninth plunge for Jackie and Gina. Those experiences have led them to wear crocs and water shoes in the rocky water, and not much else.
Special Olympics Chicago President Carolyn Daly says almost 4 thousand people registered to plunge, and they have raised $1.5 million so far that pays for competitions and programs currently serving 7,500 athletes in the city.