Oklahoma State Coaches, Players Take The Polar Plunge For Charity

Some well-known faces at Oklahoma State University took an icy plunge in the name of charity. One after another, coaches, students, and school leaders fulfilled their promise to plunge into frigid waters after a fundraiser for Oklahoma Special Olympics met its goal.

With temps in the 30s, the water looked pretty icy, but everyone who took the dunk said it was well worth it to help Special Olympics.

"It was cold, it was probably colder than I expected, but you know what, it's for a great cause,” said OSU President, Kayse Shrum.

She wasn't the only familiar face to get dunked. The fundraiser made enough money to get head football coach Mike Gundy in on the action.

"It was cold, but for a great cause, you know. For that cause, I'd do it again in a heartbeat, so it was pretty cool," Gundy said.

Chelsea Alexander helped create the event. She said her 12-year-old brother who has down syndrome inspired her to help the Special Olympics community.

"It grew, like I said, truly organically, and we just took it and ran with it and this is really incredible to see the support we got for it," said Alexander.

The initial goal was to raise $10,000, but they more than tripled that, collecting $30,000 including money made from an auction associated with the event.

"It’s just a really great opportunity to help raise money and give these athletes, these Special Olympic athletes more opportunities to find what they're passionate about and what they're good at and really challenge them to learn and grow," Chelsea said.

She said she didn't expect the event to be such a success but isn't surprised by her OSU family.

"I'm really grateful that I'm part of a community that's this special," said Chelsea.

She plans to do a fundraiser again next year.