28 July 2018, Victoria Bay welcomed an aura of generous Polar Bears clad in their orange swimwear and bearing broad smiles. Last year’s dotsure.co.za Polar Bear Plunge was refreshing, but this year’s swim made waves. Garden Route businesses challenged each other to brave the cold for a chance to win R20 000 for a charity of their choice and locals also offered their support by donating blankets to those in need.
The third annual dotsure.co.za Polar Bear Plunge welcomed over 700 courageous participants into the 14-degree waters of Vic Bay. Crowds cheered as the brave businesses and good people of George plunged into the chilly tides, while former 5 FM DJ Catherine Grenfell played some sizzling tunes. “It was a magical day and it was such an honour to be part of it. Everyone coming together to help those less fortunate and having fun doing it. It really was such a lovely experience”, Says Grenfell.
In between all the excitement participants and supporters were entertained with fun competitions. The pack of bears could also browse through a range of products and delightful edibles from local charity stalls at the event, while the young cubs ventured through the exciting kids’ corner.
The generous hearts of the Garden Route attended the event for fun, thrills and the most important reason of all – for the community! With their help, over 732 blankets were collected and were distributed to 4 major charities that were charged with warming up the less fortunate people and pets in the area. The AACL, SPCA, Rotary George, and Thanda Jesu were the grateful recipients and have already set to work putting the blankets into the hands (and paws) of those that need them most.
Apart from the giant mountain of blankets collected of for the charity, a sum of R20 000 was also donated to the Sports Academy George. This charity was nominated by Stiles George, who were favoured by the crowd for their wonderful team spirit and received 40% of the votes.
Other local businesses and corporate sponsors also deserve to be praised for their contribution towards the success of the plunge. They did not hesitate to offer their support and services for a worthy cause. “On behalf of dotsure.co.za, I would like to thank each and every person that participated and contributed to this very worthy cause. To the businesses, schools, churches and public who braved the cold, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us reach our goal to help the less fortunate “, says David Roache MD of locally based insurance provider, dotsure.co.za.
Once again, the Polar Bear Plunge was an ice cracking event! The water was chilly, but the vibe was blazing. Long live the dotsure.co.za Polar Bear Plunge and thank you to the loving community for faithfully supporting this wonderful event.
