President’s Corner: May

Bringing the Plunge to You: Introducing the Plunge Patrol

For 30 years, the Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge Presented by Allegis Group has been one of Maryland’s most recognizable fundraising and awareness building events. It has become a Maryland tradition. Each year, thousands of plungers brave the icy waters of the Chesapeake Bay, not only for the thrill of the experience, but to show their support for Special Olympics Maryland athletes and Unified® teammates.

The Plunge is more than a fundraiser. It is a celebration of the best that Maryland has to offer. It brings people together in a way that is uniquely Maryland, and it reminds us of what is possible when we are willing to take the plunge for something bigger than ourselves.

Now, we are excited to build on that powerful tradition and take the next bold step for the Plunge brand. Special Olympics Maryland is proud to introduce the Plunge Patrol, a mobile plunge unit designed to bring the excitement, spirit, and impact of the Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge directly to communities across the state.

The Plunge Patrol is a trailer-mounted plunge tank that can travel to schools, businesses, conferences, sport camps, community celebrations, and large gatherings of all kinds. It is a new way for Marylanders to experience the unforgettable energy of the Plunge without having to travel to the traditional event at the Chesapeake Bay.

For schools located hours from Sandy Point State Park, companies looking for an unforgettable employee engagement opportunity, civic organizations seeking to support us in a unique way, conferences and camps wanting a memorable activation, or social gathering locations like breweries and restaurants/bars, the Plunge Patrol offers a simple and exciting solution: we bring the Plunge to you.

Participants will have the chance to experience the same spirit of the Polar Bear Plunge, rally their friends, colleagues, classmates, and communities, and raise critical funds to support Special Olympics Maryland athletes and Unified® teammates. It is accessible, mobile, fun, and mission driven.

We have seen similar mobile plunge experiences create tremendous excitement in other Special Olympics Programs, including Special Olympics Massachusetts and Special Olympics Minnesota. These two videos provide a sense of what the Plunge Patrol experience will be.

1. Special Olympics Massachusetts Watertown Bearforce 1 Plunge
2. Special Olympics Minnesota Cool Schools Plungester Plunge

These examples show what is possible when the Plunge experience goes on the road: more people participating, more communities engaged, and more opportunities to connect people directly to the mission of Special Olympics Maryland.

Over the last three years participation among athletes and Unified teammates has grown by 31%, reinforcing the need for us to raise more funds to support this growth. Because athletes and Unified teammates train and compete free of charge, our ability to include more athletes and Unified teammates depends on our success in raising more funds. The Plunge Patrol gives us a new way to expand the reach of what has become a tradition every winter, while staying true to what has made the Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge Presented by Allegis so special. It allows us to meet people where they are, remove barriers to participation, and invite even more Marylanders to experience inclusion in such a unique, meaningful and impactful way by plunging for our athletes.

We are excited to work with businesses to provide a great team building experience, schools to reinforce the inherent values of whole school engagement to create a unified world, civic groups to extend their service commitment, youth sport organizations and camps to reinforce the power of service among today’s youth, breweries and restaurants/bars to engage their communities in a meaningful way, and other groups across Maryland seeing the virtues resulting from a fun Plunge Patrol event as they all embrace this new opportunity. Together, we can take the tradition of the Plunge farther than ever before as we work hard to reach more athletes. and Unified teammates that ultimately builds a more inclusive Maryland.

We took delivery of the Plunge Patrol on May 17^th (here are two videos, leaving the Walmart parking lot in Akron where we picked it up and the other entering Maryland) and we are ready to go. To learn more about how your organization can schedule a Plunge Patrol event visit PlungePatrolMd. We hope to introduce Plunge Patrol publicly at our Summer Games on June 12^th and 13^th.

Candidly, now the real work starts. I want to use Plunge Patrol events to raise $300,000 by the end of November. We will start immediately scheduling summer plunges starting in July and continue through the fall until we transition to focusing on the 2027 Plunge. To maximize the fundraising prowess of Plunge Patrol while also managing expenses related to each event, we have set $10,000 as the threshold for hosting an event. The model we used to set that standard is 100 Plunge Patrol Plungers raising $100 each…that’s $10k. But there are multiple models to reach that goal, businesses may see the value of using team building funds to cover the expense entirely or supplement it. Schools can recruit 200 students who each raise $50. We will work with partners to set up an event website to facilitate and foster peer-to-peer fundraising thereby engaging the plungers to raise funds to support our athletes. We’re excited to take the Plunge Patrol unit on the road. If you have any questions or want to discuss hosting event, please Nina Gaw (ngaw@somd.org).

We look forward to getting Plunge Patrol with Beary White on the road in communities across Maryland.

Jim Schmutz
President & CEO