Hundreds take Hooley Plunge to benefit Special Olympics

March 04--FLINTSTONE -- There's a first time for everything.

"I'm actually going in the water," Allegany County Sheriff Craig Robertson said during the 14th annual Hooley Plunge on Saturday at Rocky Gap State Park. "Never been in before."

Nearly a decade after Robertson began attending the fundraiser, where hundreds of people brave the freezing cold temperatures of Lake Habeeb to raise money for Special Olympics and other programs helping the developmentally disabled throughout Allegany County, he had yet to meet the chilly waters.

"I've been here every year for the past seven years," he said, "but I've always just been out here to support (cause). I've never gone in."

But it was maintaining community awareness on the area's opioid crisis that convinced him to take the plunge.

"We can't let it fade," Robertson said about the importance of sustaining community awareness on the opioid epidemic. "We have to keep it on the forefront so people are aware of it and to educate people."

Desmin Kent, a junior in the nursing program at Frostburg State University and a Zeta Phi Beta Sorority member, helped with the sheriff's awareness campaign by wearing his team's "Freezing the Opioid Crisis" T-shirt.

While Kent said she hasn't been directly affected by the epidemic, she believes the impact opioids are having on the community is apparent.

"In such a small town to see how much it effects, it's really an eye-opener," she said.

Freezing the Opioid Crisis was just one of dozens of teams participating in Saturday's event, which brought in at least $60,000 in donations by the 1 p.m. plunge time.

"We're up over $60 (thousand) right now," co-chair Rob Adams said, "but it's still coming in."

According to officials, Jersey Mike's Subs franchisee Danny Malamis and his wife Jody pledged to donate $100,000 if the drive reaches $100,000. The couple works to support local recreational facilities for developmentally disabled after their son, Luke, was born with Down syndrome in 2015.

While many folks team up as a way to collect donations, others had no problem standing alone.

Bringing in over $7,400, Charles "Skip" Sullivan raised more than any single individual participating in this year's plunge.

"I just ask individuals," Sullivan said about soliciting donations.

Not only is this Sullivan's 10th year plunging, he also coaches multiple Allegany County Special Olympics sports teams, including his 28-year-old daughter Chelsea's snowshoeing team.

Chelsea didn't opt for the plunge, she did enjoy watching her dad jump in the lake.

"He's going to jump in," she said. "He's going to get in the water for Special Olympics 2018."

This may have been Robertson's first plunge but others said it would be their last.

"I said I would do it through age 80," Allen Haines said. "I'm there."

With blue skies and a temperature near 50 degrees, Haines said the water "wasn't so bad."

"It's a lot of hype, all the time I've been doing it, they only had to cut the ice (on the lake) one time," Haines said.

Follow staff writer Heather Wolford on Twitter @heatherbwolford

Email Heather Wolford at hwolford@times-news.com, call/text 304-639-3957 and follow her on Twitter @heatherbwolford.

___

(c)2018 the Cumberland Times News (Cumberland, Md.)

Visit the Cumberland Times News (Cumberland, Md.) at times-news.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.