BUFFALO, N.Y. — Some brave people who didn't mind running into cold water in the wind did the 16th annual Buffalo Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics New York on Saturday.
They raised a record-breaking $430,000 and it will all help local Special Olympic athletes.
It was also the largest polar plunge the organization has ever had in the entire state.
"I think besides the fact that it's a really fun event, it's something different, I think people want to give to Special Olympics," said Renee Snyder, the VP of development for Special Olympics New York.
"It's a great program. The fact that we have so many, thousands of athletes, right here in the local community, in our high schools playing unified sports, everything that we do, we never charge our athletes, their partners, their caregivers, or their families for anything. It's all done through fundraising initiatives like the Polar Plunge. So I think that makes people think, hey, I might want to go jump in the lake today."
Everyone jumped, or ran, into Lake Erie at Woodlawn Beach State Park.