Polar plunge smashes goals
Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door
Thirty-seven jumpers braved the cold for the crown jewel of the Kahnawake Youth Center (KYC)’s Winter Carnival, raising more than $15,000 for an upcoming youth trip to Costa Rica.
“It’s a great turnout, the fans were into it, and it was a lot of fun,” said KYC executive director Kyle Zacharie.
The team hosted the plunge in the late afternoon this year, to accommodate attendees of the Youth Center’s after school program, who came out to cheer on jumpers.
“The kids can come and hang out and watch them jump in, which is always a big motivator to get new teams to participate in the upcoming educational trip that we do,” said Cheyanne McComber, KYC’s community and family events coordinator. “It’s a type of role-modelling, to see your community having fun, to see your family members and friends jumping and see how much money they raise for our youth, which is great.”
$15,705.51 was raised, which will go towards supporting the KYC’s upcoming trip to Costa Rica. Youth leave for the trip in under a week, and will learn about the culture of the area while enjoying the sunshine.
Organizers smashed their fundraising goal of $13,000 for the event.
“From our first trip to Peru in 2020 to today and going forward, the community has always come out to support every initiative, and especially those from the Youth Center,” said Zacharie. “It’s great that we hit our goal, it’s great to know that that’s off our shoulders.”
Community members wore a range of fun costumes for their jumps - including a particularly enjoyable turnout from three jumpers dressed as bananas, a particularly standout showing, Zacharie said.
“All three of them belly flopped, and they soaked our communications coordinator while she was live filming and got her covered in water,” Zacharie said.
The event marked the end of this year’s KYC Winter Carnival, which saw a jam-packed schedule of seasonal events to keep the community going through the chilliest season.
“It’s always a fun way to end the carnival,” Zacharie said.
McComber said KYC staff and community members made the Carnival the success it was.
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“Everyone really pulled through in making each activity their own, they included everyone of all age demographics,” she said.
“It was two weeks of fun activities that don’t normally happen on a weekly basis, and they got to go outside, breathe in the fresh air, and just enjoy the warmth by the fire.”
