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BANNER January 14, 2016
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A Frigid Plunge
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They’ll do it for charity on Montage Mountain by Tucker Hottes
SPECIAL TO THE TRIBORO BANNER
With winter finally bringing the chill to Northeast Pennsylvania, donning a bathing suit and jumping in frigid water is likely the last thing on most people’s minds. But on Saturday, Jan. 30, at Montage Mountain, more than 100 people are expected to do just that. The charity organization Friends of Shannon McDonough will host its third annual Splashin’ with Compassion polar plunge. Shannon McDonough died at age 23 after a battle with colon cancer in 2009. Starting in 2010, a group of 11 friends decided to keep her memory alive by raising money for other people fighting cancer by selling T-shirts at the Scranton St. Patrick’s Parade. Wendy Egan, a member of Friends of Shannon McDonough, said community support led the group to establish a formal 501(c) nonprofit organization. The group helps individuals from around the area, ages 16-25, who have been diagnosed with cancer. “We find people in our area, we go to doctors’ offices and find people in the local community,” she said. “We also have people come directly to us who know others who are battling cancer. If we can help them, we do – we directly send them a check. We take care of anyone in Northeastern PA. “This year we ventured out into Honesdale, we’re slowly trying to push ourselves farther out. These medical bills are insane, and people are trying to get healthy and when you’re worrying about money it can become a never-ending cycle for them. Anything we can do to help, we try to do.” After a suggestion to start a polar plunge – where brave people take a dip in near-freezing winter water – Friends of Shannon McDonough decided to give it a whirl in 2013 with the inaugural Splashin’ with Compassion. “We wanted to keep it in the area, and we needed a lake – but we wanted to keep it as close to Scranton as possible,” said Egan. “We ended up at Montage and it’s been perfect. The first year, we did way better than expected. It was very crazy and hectic, but everyone said it
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Group members took the plunge at last year’s Splashin’ with Compassion.
went smoothly, so we continued to do it.” While the event is free to attend, interested plungers contribute a $35 donation to support the organization. Those who register at friendsofshannonmcdonough.com before Wednesday, Jan. 20, will receive a complimentary hooded sweatshirt. In addition to the plunge itself, underwater rings will have prizes for lucky jumpers, and anyone who wears a costume will be eligible for costume prizes. Those who would prefer to stay dry can take a chance at basket raffles, check out drink specials in the lodge and visit vendors with health information. Kids can take a ‘mini-plunge’ by dipping their hands into buckets for a chance to win prizes. While the weather has been anything but guaranteed so far, Egan said the organization expects a fun time regardless. “If it’s warm, everyone’s going to just take a nice dip I think,” she said. “Which I’m OK with, because I enjoy summer a lot more. This
is tough for me to do, but I really do enjoy it. It’s not something I ever would have done on my own. It’s a bucket list thing; a lot of people put something like this on their bucket list. We get a lot of people who are daring enough to do it, so it’s exciting. The support from the community is beyond anything we could have imagined.” While Shannon McDonough may be gone, her memory lives on through friends and family and their efforts to continue to help others throughout the community. “Shannon was an amazing, very giving person, so for us to do this with her name on it is just very rewarding,” said Egan. “We were overwhelmed by how quickly we’ve grown, it’s exciting. We’re trying to keep her name going as much as possible; she was an amazing person – one of those people who you never had anything bad to say about her. Keeping her name going is our main goal.”