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In the weeks leading up to Polar Fest 2021, staff at the Detroit Lakes’ Boys & Girls Club thought at length about how to creatively celebrate this annual fundraiser in the midst of a pandemic – not to mention the long time of sub-zero temperatures that gripped the region last week.
Typically, the PFP brings hundreds of families to gather around an icy hole on Little Detroit Lake in mid-February and cheer on dozens of brave souls as they leap into the frozen waters. This year, however, a global pandemic known as COVID-19 made such a large group rally impossible – a different way of fundraising was therefore found: celebrity “Proxy Plunger” Duhamel. The Minot, ND native has agreed to make the jump to a lake in an undisclosed area to support local youth.
On Monday February 8, Duhamel shared this video on the club’s Facebook page, recounting his enthusiasm for what he was about to do.
Later in the week he and Boys & Girls Club executive director Patrick Petermann spoke to local public access channel TV-3 about his reasons for agreeing to participate in the Plunge.
His jump into the icy water was recorded for posterity and made public this afternoon, on social media pages and on the Club’s website, bgcdl.org. In support of his feat of bravery, former divers and friends of the club were encouraged to “dive by proxy” and lift pledges or post their “cold” photos on the club’s Facebook page.
In return, the most prolific fundraisers were given a chance to win rewards such as VISA gift cards, club gifts, and items autographed by Josh Duhamel.
“It was an incredibly good sport,” Petermann said of Duhamel, adding that the actor not only shared videos of his experiences leading up to the leap with his fans on social media, but also autographed several items. that the club was using in its fundraising efforts.
By the time the deadline for pledging pledges was reached at midnight on Friday, February 12, the club had raised more than $ 17,000 from more than two dozen “Proxy Plungers,” said Alyssa Hoskins, coordinator of the. club marketing and communications.
“It’s more than I expected,” she said of the club’s response to the call for participants.
Duhamel gladly took on the challenge of being the “Proxy Plunger”, as you can see in the video below. In fact, according to Petermann, he even did the Plunge a second time, just for fun. He added that the outside temperature was actually -13 degrees – yes, that number had a minus ahead of him! – when Duhamel took the leap.
Although the deadline for earning bonuses as “Proxy Plungers” has now passed, Petermann said anyone who still wants to donate funds to support Josh Duhamel’s Polar Fest Plunge and the Boys & Girls Club mission of Detroit Lakes is encouraged to do so, by going to bgcdl.org and clicking the “Donate” button.
Polar Fest Plunge raises essential funds to support the hundreds of local youth who benefit from the programming and services offered at the Boys & Girls Club of Detroit Lakes.
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