Jump in the lake Saturday for Special Olympics

• Reprints

Updated: March 24, 2012 8:06AM

Support Special Olympics athletes by jumping into the waters of Lake Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The funds raised from the Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge will help Special Olympics Illinois Near West Suburban/Area 5, which serves athletes with intellectual disabilities in Western DuPage and the suburbs in Cook County located to the west and north of Chicago.

All Polar Plungers are required to collect a minimum of $75 in donations. Check-in begins at 11 a.m. and last-minute plungers are welcome. The after-plunge party will be held at Prairie Moon in Evanston. Lunch is free for all plungers and $15 for others.

People are encouraged to come in costume and to form teams. Each team member must raise the minimum of $75 in donations; all team members’ individual fund-raising totals will be merged to form a combined team total. Statewide, teams are placed into divisions based on size and are awarded prizes for the most money raised.

Each plunger receives an official Polar Plunge sweatshirt. There are also incentive items for raising more money with prizes including a seven-night trip for two to Riu Negril in Negril, Jamaica, courtesy of Riu Hotels and Resorts and Apple Vacations. The trip includes round-trip airfare, transfers to and from the resort, and all meals and drinks.

For every $500 a plunger raises, he or she will get an entry into the drawing for the grand prize.

Register for the Plunge and create your own fund-raising webpage on the Special Olympics Illinois website, www.plungeillinois.com, or by contacting Katie Grisham at Special Olympics Illinois at (630) 545-3402.

Statewide presenting Polar Plunge sponsor: GEICO. Evanston Plunge sponsors: Comcast SportsNet, Elmer’s Watersports and Prairie Moon.

The Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run is a fund-raising vehicle benefiting Special Olympics Illinois. The intrastate relay and its fund-raising projects have two goals: to raise money and increase public awareness for the athletes of Special Olympics. Each year, more than 3,000 officers in Illinois run more than 1,500 miles carrying the Flame of Hope through the streets of their hometowns and deliver it to the State Summer Games in Normal in June. Special Olympics Illinois is a year-round program of sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics programs are in more than 170 countries with 3.5 million athletes.