Courage Polar Bear Dip
Gaye Courage braving the cold waters of Lake Ontario at the Courage Polar Bear Dip
Call them crazy if you want, but every New Year’s day, hundreds of people jump into Lake Ontario’s icy-cold water for one purpose – to raise money in support of freshwater projects in developing countries around the world. This year marks the 38th year that Courage Polar Bear Dip for World Vision has taken place, raising a total of over $2 million to date.
Dressed in just about anything from bikinis, baby New Year costumes and Santa outfits to costumes designed with such imagination that it can leave you awestruck, these dippers sacrifice themselves each year to help others.
Todd and Trent Courage, founders of the annual Courage Polar Bear Dip for World Vision, visited Rwanda in the fall of 2009 and saw firsthand the impact of the funds raised by the event.
“Seeing how things are in Rwanda with my own eyes was a life-changing experience,” says Todd Courage. “In North America, it’s so easy to access fresh water that we take it for granted - a mere turn of a tap or twist of a cap - but in countries like Ethiopia or Zambia, accessing clean water is all about survival.”
Why people do the Dip is anyone’s guess. It could be that some merely want to be a part of the carnival-like atmosphere and have a good time. Others may be participating just to raise money to help the Courage Polar Bear Dip reach its goal of providing clean water solutions for underdeveloped countries around the world – but whichever it is, one thing is sure, they all do it with enthusiasm and a passion that’s seldom seen. One only needs to attend an event to witness the excitement.
“Water is the essence of life – it prevents disease and sustains life,” says Trent Courage. “And this is the reason for The Courage Polar Bear Dip and why hundreds of crazy people jump into the icy-cold waters of Lake Ontario every January 1; it’s water for water.”
Funds raised at the 38th annual Courage Polar Bear Dip will help provide a dependable source of clean water for World Vision’s WASH water projects in Ethiopia and Zambia. This entails building safe water points (wells or reservoirs) and partnering with local utility companies to provide piped water directly to households. These efforts reduce the suffering and disease caused by drinking dirty water and allow children to spend time in school rather than trekking to distant water sources.
