Jump Raises 180K for Children with Serious Health Concerns

By WRILEY NELSON
MILFORD

The bright, cold afternoon of Saturday, February 17 saw hundreds of people flock to the waterside at Silliman Cove on Goodyear Lake for the 26th annual Polar Bear Jump. Participants and spectators huddled close to the shoreline as the weather seesawed between full sun and snow squalls that reduced visibility to a few hundred feet, all accompanied by a gusting, bitter wind. Due to poor ice conditions, the jump was moved from its usual location in the center of the lake to a wading area near the shore. Reactions to the change were mixed; jumpers who were accustomed to simply stepping off a platform all at once faced the far more daunting prospect of walking out into the four-foot water and immersing themselves a bit at a time. As always, volunteer teams of rescue divers and emergency medical responders waited in the wings.

Lifelong area residents Brenda and Jamie Waters started the Goodyear Lake Polar Bear Jump in 1996 with a handful of participants. It has grown to a major local tradition and fundraising institution that routinely attracts more than 200 jumpers. Entire families and workplaces attend as teams, competing against one another to raise the most money and often wearing matching uniforms for the jump. This year, the Polar Bear Jump family, as many participants call it, outdid itself, raising more than $182,000.00. Although Brenda and Jamie have not yet confirmed the total, they believe that this year’s donations put their cumulative total over the past quarter-century at well over $2 million.

Organizers selected nine local children with chronic or severe health conditions as this year’s recipients, including Callie Shaw, Taylor Piucci, Rowan DeCocker, Windsor Tietjen, Madison Monton, Max Pascarella, Scarlett Vandermark, Jax Baldwin and Harlee Booker. Visit www.pbjump.com/recipient-stories/ to read their stories. Several recipients attended the jump to watch their friends, family members and fundraising teams take the plunge.

“We had 223 people make the jump this year,” Brenda said. “We’ve had bigger turnouts in the past, but the people who turn up every year no matter what are serious. Many of them have started their own annual fundraising events to get sponsors for the jump; some of them run line dancing events, and a few local businesses did daily donation drive events for weeks. I really can’t believe just how committed so many people are to helping out the recipients.”

The community spirit was palpable as the crowd cheered for each group running into the water. Many teams sported flashy or humorous outfits, and about half did their fundraising and jump on behalf of a particular recipient. One man raised more than $19,000.00 by himself, prompting a cheer from the audience that drowned out the rest of the announcement. Several jumpers self-identified as the hapless partners or fiancées of people who have made the jump with their families for decades; “Now you’re really part of the family,” exclaimed an in-law on the shore.

The Polar Bear Jump recently received 501c3 status, allowing it to accept more corporate donations. Many local businesses donate money or items for the benefit auction that typically takes place a few weeks before jump day.

“With the new tax benefit for donating to us, we’ve gotten a lot more help from businesses around the area,” Brenda said. “In-kind donations of stationery, posters, food and so on have reduced our operating costs to essentially nothing, so we’re able to pass everything on to the recipients.”

“The community here is amazing,” Jamie added. “We don’t get told ‘no’ very often.”

The jump is ultimately a community effort, Brenda and Jamie said. It is entirely run by volunteers, many of whom have been fixtures at the events for decades.

“The volunteers who run the concession stand told us several years ago, ‘We don’t want you to worry about this part, just assume we’ll be there every year,’ and now a lot of the volunteers are like that,” Brenda said. “Everyone just comes together for the kids. Neil Case, who works for the New York State Police diving team, is the father of a past recipient, and he reached out to us to offer the volunteer rescue dive team. It really makes the jump feel safer and more professional. That’s how every part of this comes together: Someone will have an idea to make the jump better, and then they go out and do it. You have the divers, the drone photography pilot, the concessions, the businesses who donate our operating materials—everyone has something unique to offer and they offer it.”

In addition to the jump and auction, there is an awards banquet that is open to the community. In recent years, the Polar Bear Jump has also expanded to run fundraising events earlier in the winter and fall, as well as sickbed visits by beloved mascot Goody the polar bear. Like nearly every other jumper or volunteer to mention it, Brenda and Jamie said that the banquet is the most rewarding part of the entire process. Jumpers, volunteers, donors, recipients, and other community members sit down for a hot meal and to recognize the most successful fundraisers.

“It’s a really special experience, getting to see what the donations mean to the children and their families, and what that means to the donors, jumpers and volunteers,” Brenda said. “A recipient’s family member this year said, ‘doing this jump restored my faith in humanity,’ and I’m not sure there is higher praise.”

Another volunteer, explaining a few tears at the dinner, said “there are people with sick children here, and they’re smiling.”

Jamie and Brenda are pleased with and grateful for their event’s expansion, but want it to retain its community spirit. They are considering running more events over the course of the year. However, as they and other volunteers emphasized, the jump and the people it brings together will always be the heart of the operation.

“Truly, any help that people can offer makes a difference,” Jamie said. “We need jumpers and sponsors, of course, but we can also make good use of food, gift certificates, in-kind donations for the auction or for operations. Anything helps.”

Visit the Goodyear Lake Polar Bear Jump Facebook page or https://pbjump.com/ for more information on future events.

Contributing writer and former Iron String Press News Editor Wriley Nelson attended and made the jump on behalf of the newspaper.