KENNEBUNK — The National Weather Service is predicting a sunny, breezy New Year’s Day, with a high near 30 degrees. It doesn’t sound much like a beach day, but there will be plenty of people splashing in the ocean.
The 14th annual Atlantic Plunge, a fundraiser for Caring Unlimited, will take place on New Year’s Day at 11 a.m. at Gooch’s Beach.
Participants collect pledges, which are made online or collected and turned in the day of the event. Then, at 11 a.m., they dash into the ocean.
“It’s a pretty quick event, once it happens,” said Caring Unlimited spokeswoman Emily Gormley. “They usually go right in, and then go right out and back into dry clothes.”
Gormley said the plunge typically draws about 100 people, and another 100 spectators. On average, the event raises about $20,000, she said. The Atlantic Plunge and Nicole’s Run, which is scheduled for July, are the organization’s two largest fundraisers, she said.
Caring Unlimited provides a 24-hour hotline, emergency sheltering, transitional housing, support and educational groups, legal advocacy and more for victims of domestic violence across the county.
More information on the Atlantic Plunge is available at www.caring-unlimited.org. A storm date is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 3.
In Old Orchard Beach, participants of the 27th annual Lobster Dip will be lining up behind The Brunswick hotel to run into the water around noon.
The Lobster Dip is Special Olympics Maine’s biggest annual fundraiser. Money raised funds statewide, year-round sports training programs and athletic competitions for more than 3,800 adults and children who have intellectual disabilities, according to a press release.
Special Olympics Maine spokeswoman Lisa Bird said in an email organizers anticipate about 300 participants and a few hundred spectators. The event last year raised just more than $80,000, and she said organizers hope to match, if not exceed, that number.
For more information on the Lobster Dip, go to www.sosmaine.org.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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