Overview
- An estimated 4,300 people entered 34-degree Lake Michigan at North Avenue Beach, generating more than $1.5 million, according to organizers.
- The event website reported about $1.5 million raised toward a $2 million goal, with online donations accepted through the end of March.
- Organizers said all proceeds stay within Chicago’s 77 community areas to support competitions, trainings, camps, travel, and school-based art and music therapy.
- Chicago Fire Department teams, including divers in dry suits, monitored the shoreline and advised quick, feet-first entries with shoes for safety.
- Now in its 28th year, the plunge mixed fundraising with spectacle, from costumed participants to the Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band marching into the water, and has totaled roughly $30 million over its history.