A celebration of community at this year’s Polar Plunge fundraiser for Special Olympics Alaska

This year, Service High School’s Partners Club had a lot to jump for during Special Olympics Alaska’s 13th annual Polar Plunge.

During Saturday’s fundraiser at Goose Lake, club members wore sashes adorned with phrases like “We (Heart) Emma”, “#InclusionRevolution” and “Miss AK=Miss America” to honor alumna Emma Broyles, who was crowned Miss America this week. She is the first Miss Alaska and first woman of Korean descent to win the competition.

Her Miss America platform was centered around building inclusion and community through the Special Olympics. She was also the Partners Club president her senior year of high school, said Loy Donaldson, who jumped into the frigid water with his students Saturday morning.

The Partners Club is a social inclusion group sponsored by Special Olympics Alaska. It brings students together primarily through sports such as skiing, bowling and track and field, Donaldson said, and its 4-by-100-meter team qualified to go the the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Florida.

For this year’s Polar Plunge, Partners Club members surpassed their initial fundraising goal of $10,000 and raised nearly $31,000 in just three months.

Many other groups and individuals also participated in Saturday’s fundraiser, including a Providence Medical Group Alaska team dressed in scrubs and capes, a group in a colorful ‘80s ensemble and participants dressed as an elf and a reindeer.

For Robert Moore, Saturday’s jump was his last after 13 years.

He approached the open water and announced to the crowd that his jump was in honor of his late wife, Carmen Moore, who died Nov. 1.

“Going forward, the memories are just too much,” Moore said.

With tears in his eyes, he hugged the emcee and leapt as high as he could after a countdown, cannonballing into the water. Cheers and applause welcomed him as he swam to the water’s edge.

Moore and his wife were married at the Polar Plunge nine years ago. Their entire wedding party took part in the event and made the freezing jump that year, he said.

The pair adopted a daughter who has Down syndrome, and they also have a family member with intellectual disabilities, he said.

This year, he wore a black shirt and blue-and-white-striped shorts. Printed on the front of his shirt was a photograph of Moore and his wife on their wedding day, and on the back in big, white letters was the date of their wedding: 12/15/12.

“Special Olympics has been very close to my heart,” Moore said.

In its 13 years, the Polar Plunge has raised more than $3 million and hosted more than 10,000 participants.

This year, 710 people participated in the fundraiser, which raised more than $300,000. The money goes toward year-round sports training and competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Event donations end Dec. 31 and can be made online.