Chilly dip for charity
Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan
Last year’s UNBSU Executive takes the plunge in the Polar Dip.
January 25, 2012 7:00 AM ADT
Campus community members are getting ready to brave the cold for a cause. The annual Bridges House Polar Dip takes place on Jan. 28 in the SUB quad. The event supports the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax.
Bridges has a close partnership with the IWK as the result of a student who previously lived in the house and spent a fair amount of his youth at the IWK. Gary MacDonald has been the don of Bridges for five years. Since his arrival at UNB he has been witness to many spectacular and rewarding fundraisers.
MacDonald estimates that the annual Bridge’s House Polar Dip has taken place for about 20 years.
“When it began,” he said, “the students used to gather down at the Saint John River, where a hole would have been cut in the ice, and they would take turns jumping in.”
For the past ten years, however, the event has taken place in a pool that is set up in the SUB quad.
Suffering from cerebral palsy, Jeremy Murray, a first-year student at UNB, has benefited from the services and care offered through the IWK during annual visits to the hospital.
Murray said, “I’m very happy to hear that students can fundraise for such a great cause, where funding is always needed and welcomed.”
This year the Bridges House committee has decided on a minimum fundraising achievement of $25 for those who wish to be eligible to participate in the event.
While she has yet to participate in jumping, Chantel Whitman, a former resident of Bridges has watched the event in the past. She described the event atmosphere as “fun, inviting, and cold, and, most of all, rewarding.”
She is pleased to see students willing to give back to their community. “I’m a proud supporter of the IWK because I know several kids who have benefited from the care given there,” Whitman said.
For Whitman, the requested $25 of fundraising is “a minimal request for helping to save so many young, precious lives.”
“The entire [Student Union] executive is planning to take the jump this year, in addition to advertising the event.”
Students often dress up to make the event more engaging for those who come to watch.
“There is always an audience, regardless of the temperature on the day of the event; not only is there an audience from within the residence community, but the greater Fredericton community as well,” MacDonald said.
In addition to the funds raised through the dip, Bridges also collects funds through other avenues. “We have a BBQ set up on the day of the dip, where we’ll set hot dogs, hamburgers, beverages, and bracelets,” MacDonald said. MacDonald said that for him, the event is very worthwhile.
“Because as a house or community, we are able to all pull together in one direction to make a positive effort to help children who are sick as a result of an illness from birth or from a young age.”
1 comment
Sean Molloy on Jan 25, 2012 at 4:21pm
When I lived in Bridges in 90-91, we had what we called the 2nd annual polar dip, so I would say this should be #23...
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