As polar plunges proliferate, organizers fear the escalating number of events will hurt fund-raising. At left, the Lobster Dip at Old Orchard Beach in Maine.
The shock of plunging into frigid water, which the L Street Brownies have endured and enjoyed for 105 consecutive New Year's Days, has failed to toss cold water on a toe-numbing lark that used to be relegated to the hardy or foolhardy few.
Now, some organizers wonder whether an escalating number of polar plunges will hurt fund-raising for those charities that embraced this big chill long before its popularity heated up.
Mainers scheduled at least nine plunges this winter, including three on New Year's Day and one Jan. 2. Rhode Island had at least 10 on New Year's Day. And Massachusetts, among its year-opening activities, hosted the granddaddy of them all in South Boston, plus smaller plunges in Swampscott, Bourne, and Fairhaven.
"My feeling is there are enough dippers to go around, but there may not be enough pledgers to go around," said Phil Geelhoed, president of Special Olympics Maine, which hosted its 21st annual Lobster Dip on New Year's Day in Old Orchard Beach.
The dip in 9-degree temperatures attracted more than 300 entrants, Geelhoed said, and set a new revenue record of just under $52,000 for the oldest winter plunge in Maine. The organization expanded its advertising this time to draw participants, who each raised a minimum of $100 in pledges.
On Jan. 2, a smaller crew raced, or tiptoed, into the water off East End Beach in Portland, where the Natural Resources Council of Maine held its first plunge to raise awareness and money for the fight against global warming.
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