St. Bonaventure’s Polar Plunge team will travel to Woodlawn Beach State Park in Buffalo this Saturday to plunge into Lake Erie to raise money for Special Olympics New York.
“Special Olympics is a non-profit organization that is the largest provider of health care in the world for those with intellectual disabilities,” said Paula Scraba, O.S.F., Ph.D. “New York ranks first in the country and sixth in the world.”
Scraba said the team has raised over $2,000 this year, which is the most money it has fundraised to date.
“All of the money raised in Western New York stays in Western New York,” said Scraba, who has helped organize the Polar Spray.
The pre-event to the Polar Plunge will be hosted here at St. Bonaventure by the women’s swimming and diving team.
Scraba said Bonaventure began participating in the Polar Plunge in 2007, when it was the main project for the Students of Free Enterprise, SIFE (now known as the
Campus Activities Board) and Enactus.
Ben Collins, a senior finance major, now leads the student team.
Collins has been participating in the Polar Plunge in Buffalo since his sophomore year of college, and he also took a cool dip in Lake George with a group of friends in high school.
Most of his influence from the Special Olympics comes from his father, who is the director of training for Special Olympics New York, he said.
Collins said sports have always played a huge role in his life.
“Being an athlete and fundraising for the Polar Plunge is a great way to ensure other athletes have the resources they need to compete year-round,” said Collins.
Scraba said they are always trying to get more people involved and to carry the tradition.
“I think whether someone is interested or not depends on if students are coming from high schools with programs such as Best Buddies and Unified,” she said. “If they have a special connection to the cause, they are more likely to participate.”
She teaches a senior forum class that focuses on Special Olympics. Students helped her coordinate the Polar Spray on campus and have gotten involved in their hometowns as well.
Collins said he owes a large part of their fundraising success to Scraba, who has been the reason they have raised more than they ever have, he said.
“She helped us get approval to take donations at a basketball game, spoke with faculty for donations and generated a ton of awareness throughout the student body,” Collins said.
Seeing other students get excited about the Polar Plunge is one of Collins’ favorite parts about the experience, he said.
“Our team has been talking about this event for weeks now,” said Collins. “If someone were to overhear us talking, they wouldn’t know we were talking about a fundraiser.”
Overall, Collins said participating in the Polar Plunge means a lot because it has been something he has done for years and he enjoys giving back to the community.
“The event reminds me that we are all athletes and all deserve an opportunity to do what we love,” said Collins. “Being a part of the Polar Plunge ensures we all get this opportunity.”
Those interested in joining the SBU Bonnies team or donating can contact Paula Scraba at pscraba@sbu.edu or Ben Collins at collinbc13@bonaventure.edu for further information.
engjg14@bonaventure.edu
