Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Austin Sterbenz, right, and his dad, Matt, scramble out of the water of Sunday Lake during Regional Hospice's annual polar plunge Saturday in Wakefield.
WAKEFIELD - Normally telling someone to go jump in a lake is a bad thing, Saturday it was just the instructions as Regional Hospice held its annual Polar Plunge at Sunday Lake in Wakefield.
Those brave enough to endure the cold water lined the banks of the lake near the Eddy Park boat launch, waiting for their turn to jump into a hole in the ice and then hurry back to shore to dry off.
They were surrounded by cheering spectators encouraging their efforts.
Around 40 jumpers participated in this year's polar plunge, Regional Hospice volunteer coordinator Matt Agee.
Agee said the event went really well.
"Great weather, the city of Wakefield did a great job making a big hole," he said, noting the winds from earlier in the day died down a bit in time for the event.
He also thanked the Gogebic County Sheriff's Department and Gogebic County Search and Rescue for helping make the event possible.
The money raised at the polar plunge goes to help with the general operating costs for Regional Hospice, which has sites in Hayward, Spooner, Ashland and Ironwood.
"This fundraiser is (the Ironwood) site's biggest fundraiser," Agee said.
"Our mission is to provide compassionate care to patients and their families with a terminal illness," said Lynda Anderson, the executive director of Regional Hospice.
She said this could include everything from pain management to providing comfort and increasing a patient's quality of life.
This is the 13th year the Ironwood site has held the event.
Anderson thanked the community for its continued support of the plunge.
"They always come out in this big show of support every year, it's just amazing," she said. "It's not just a show of support to this program, it's a show of support to the staff and work we do."
