(Pittsburgh, PA – February 27, 2024) - Special Olympics Three Rivers Region has announced that the 14th annual Pittsburgh Polar Plunge shattered its original fundraising goal of $750,000 over the weekend raising a staggering $1,075,901, an increase of nearly 50% over last year’s totals. This marks the first time in history Special Olympics Pennsylvania has raised more than a million dollars in a single fundraiser.
More than 4,300 plungers from local schools, community groups and corporations were “freezin’ for a reason” as they plunged into frigid waters outside of Acrisure Stadium (February 23-24) and at Station Square (Feb 2) to raise funds in support of the region’s more than 4,000 Special Olympics athletes.
“Pittsburgh continues to show up in huge ways for Special Olympics athletes in our community,” said Andrew Fee, Executive Director for Special Olympics Pennsylvania, Three Rivers Region. “This incredible milestone will help us increase our impact in the community by getting more individuals with intellectual disabilities engaged with our life-changing programming. Because of this historic achievement, we will be able grow the number of schools involved with Special Olympics as well as offer more sports, health, and leadership opportunities – at no charge – to athletes around our region.”
The Polar Plunge events kicked off February 2 with the Super Plunge at Station Square and continued over the past weekend at Acrisure Stadium. Additionally, nearly 2,000 students from around the region participated in the Cool Schools plunge Friday morning and local corporations raised over $100,000 on Friday evening at a happy hour plunge hosted by Pittsburgh Brewing Co. and sponsored by Calgon Carbon. More than 60 corporate sponsors partnered with Special Olympics to make this year’s event possible.
The annual Polar Plunge fundraiser helps to support the local region’s quality training and competitions in 24 sports, leadership training, and health initiatives for Special Olympics athletes throughout the year.
About Special Olympics Pennsylvania
Special Olympics Pennsylvania provides year-round training and competition in 21 Olympic-type sports to more than 13,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities or closely related developmental disabilities. For more information about how you can join “The Inclusion Revolution,” visit www.specialolympicspa.org.