02/01/2026
What an incredible day at the 2026 Special Olympics Indiana Fort Wayne Polar Plunge! 💙❄️ Huge THANK YOU to our fearless plungers, generous sponsors, and dedicated volunteers, along with the outstanding event staff from Special Olympics Indiana and the incredible team from Northeast Allen County Fire Protection District. Special thanks as well to Paw R. Bear, emcee JJ Fabini from 96.3 XKE, and DJ Alex from The Culture Shift. Everyone involved helped make the event fun, safe, and full of positive energy.
Because of all of you, we raised over $85,000 and had 164 brave plungers step up for Special Olympics athletes, kicking Polar Plunge season off right! Your time, generosity, and willingness to show up in the cold helps ensure more than 20,000 athletes across Indiana can continue to train, compete, and thrive at no cost to them or their families. We’re beyond grateful. 💙
Top 3 fundraising teams: Down for a Cure, Old School Chill Seekers, Shiver Me Timbers (Design Collaborative)
Top 3 fundraisers (team): Chris King (Down for a Cure), Danielle Benner (Old School Chill Seekers), Matt Phillips (Old School Chill Seekers)
Largest team: East Allen University with 32 plungers!
Thanks again to our sponsors (Facebook won't let us tag them all)!
💰Corporate: SDI, MasterSpas, Fort Wayne Metals, Reimbold & Miller, Polar Leasing, Current Mechanical, Sweetwater, ResCare Community Living, Fort Wayne Turners, Environmental Management Specialists, Fort Wayne Turners, Caregiver, Inc., New Haven Print, Meijer (Maysville Rd.), and UAW Local 2209.
🏞️Facilities: Metea County Park & Cedar Creek Church of Christ
🍕🥨🌭Food: Pizza Hut of Fort Wayne, Auntie Anne's Pretzels Fort Wayne Meijer #138, and Portillo's - Fort Wayne, IN
📺📻Media: WANE 15, 96.3 XKE, HOT 107.9, U.S. 93.3, and The Culture Shift
📸Check out all these amazing photos from Adam Gaddy Photography - feel free to download them and tag yourself and your fellow plungers (and anyone you want to recruit for next year!). See and download all the event photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gWp36NMAymCHf1j98
We plan to be back at Metea County Park next February, watch for a Save the Date and more details!
