Special Olympics Maryland Participates in Polar Bear Plunge

Ophir Alalouf

Introduction• A pediatric dentist with almost two decades of experience, Dr. Ophir Alalouf owns

and manages Kids Teeth, LLC, Health: Pediatric Dentistry in Rockville, Maryland. Dedicated to helping others, Ophir Alalouf, DDS, supports Special Olympics.

Special Olympics Maryland recently participated in the annual Maryland Polar Bear Plunge at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis. The event, which occurred on January 27 and 28, 2017, is sponsored by the Maryland State Police. Those interested pledge at least $75 to dip into the chilly waters of the Chesapeake Bay, and the money raised benefits 7,311 athletes around Maryland. The event offered three separate types of plunges on January 27.

* Police, military, and fire/EMS plunge. Throughout the day, these civil servants dipped into the waters.

* Super plunge. Participants plunged into the water 24 times in 24 hours.

Polar Bear Plunge• * Corporate plunge. Companies were encouraged to have their workers

participate. Happy hour began at 5:00 p.m. to give workers some additional courage.

On January 28, participants had three extra types of plunges from which to choose.

* Pee wee and family plunge. Participants took a dip beginning at 11:00 a.m.

* Main plunge. This was the plunge geared toward the most participants, and the event featured two waves with one at 12:30 p.m. and the other at 2:30 p.m.

As of March 2017, the event raised more than $2.56 million, which surpassed its goal of $2.5 million.