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Some NRECA staffers are not beyond stripping out of their business attire and jumping into freezing water if it’s for a good cause. The third straight year, staffers from NRECA’s Cooperative Benefit Administrators subsidiary are taking part in the Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge.

A team of staffers from NRECA’s Corporate Benefits Administrators subsidiary wore dresses for Lincoln, Neb. 2008 Polar Bear Plunge. (Photo By: NRECA)

“The proceeds support more than 4,000 intellectually disabled athletes who take part in Special Olympics programs in Nebraska each year,” said Katie Bowser, director of development for the state’s Special Olympics chapter, which hosts three such events each year that have raised more than $200,000.

The Lincoln, Neb., area has been snowbound for more than 80 of the past 90 days. Organizers of the event are planning to chop through several inches of ice on Holmes Lake to make room for more than 350 participants expected to take the plunge Feb. 27.

“It’s 10 times colder than what you think,” said Amy Hevelone, a CBA benefits services representative. “The second you start going in, you feel it, and you want to get finished as quickly as possible.”

Hevelone and three colleagues plan to hold hands and run into the frigid water until it’s up to their shoulders as they represent NRECA at the Lincoln, Neb., fundraiser Feb. 27.

The CBA team raised more than $1,000 in donations and pledges, and NRECA is adding $750 to the total.

“This is a great way to support the Special Olympics athletes,” said Hevelone.

In the 2008 event, five staffers donned dresses for the plunge. Last year they decided on a summer beach theme and threw rubber duckies into the crowd as they ran toward the water, said Hevelone, who remained mum about this year’s costumes.“We’re working on a real surprise for the crowd, our co-workers and family members who come out to cheer us on.”

Tags: Local Initiatives