West Lafayette community takes an icy plunge

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Some West Lafayette residents and Purdue students spent the morning "freezing for a reason" as they took the plunge for Special Olympics Indiana.

Despite today's sunshine, winter's wind still kept the air nice and chilly. However, that didn't stop Polar Plungers from baring it all as they dove in for a good cause.

The Polar Plunge is fundraiser for Special Olympic Indiana. Including Purdue, the Polar Plunge is taking place at 11 different sites throughout Indiana during the month of February.

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis and representatives for the West Lafayette fire and police departments also took the plunge. Chair of the Polar Plunge, Lynne Buckley-Noble, said Purdue's Polar Plunge has been a huge success this year.

"We have more in pre-registration funds raised then we had total raised last year. So the event has really, really grown this year," Buckley-Noble said.

Buckley-Noble said 228 plungers collected donations in order to make the freezing jump. Two of those jumpers include Sergio Haro and Cesar Marquez. They represented Purdue's Delta Pi Rho, a Latino-based fraternity.

"I've never been involved with the Special Olympics, but it is a great opportunity to do it," said Marquez.

"We ended up raising a lot of money between the two of us. I didn't expect so many people to jump on board and help us out," said Haro.

Liz Bartley is also involved with Purdue Greek life. She and her sorority sisters took the plunge to represent Alpha Xi Delta. She said this is her first time participating in the Polar Plunge.

"I'm so nervous. I don't want to get cold," said Bartley.

Chairman Buckley-Noble said Purdue is competing against four other universities across the state for the Campus Challenge. She said Purdue has raised the most money and won that award the past two years. She is confident this year won't be any different.

This year's West Lafayette Polar Plunge raised a total of $44,000. Buckley-Noble said that amount doubled last year's.