The final day of the dip in the lake was a chilly one for a group raising money for Youth Haven.
Monday marked Day 100 of Jordan Ford and his friends James Robb and Sarena Brincat jumping in Kempenfelt Bay to take a swim in the name of charity.
Ford, 28, spoke to BarrieToday before diving into the choppy waters this afternoon about what led to the frigid endeavour.
“We basically started doing this when the ice hit and it was mainly for mental-health benefits, but eventually turned it into a fundraiser for Youth Haven,” he said. “Today is very windy, but we’ve had the minus-35 days and the days with a blizzard happening, so this will be OK.”
Ford said he chose Youth Haven as the fundraiser's beneficiary when he heard about the high the number of homeless youth living in the community.
“It kind of made me sick to my stomach to think that so many young people have no place to go. I also have a background with addiction; I have been clean now for three years and wanted to try to give back,” he said. “I find the youth are often the forgotten pines in society, so it was important to help out here while I could.”
Last year, Ford raised $20,000 for Shak’s World doing an Ironman competition and the goal of the three friends now is to raise at least $40,000 for community charities.
Ford says they have several events planned for the year.
“That's why this only lasted 100 days because we have others we want to get to. After this, we’ll start to train for a 100-kilometre run from Barrie to the CN Tower that we’re doing at the end of July,” he said.
Ford and his friends spend about 20 minutes in the lake each day, moving around and then finding a post to sit and hang out. They also go live on social media to boost fundraising efforts and let people know what is happening.
The group attracted many others who joined in, one of whom was Jen Galicinski. She has been doing the plunge for about 90 days and said it has worked wonders for her mental health and encourages more people to do it.
“The increase of all the happiness hormones has greatly helped my anxiety and depression. The euphoria and energy I feel has allowed me to go back to work full-time, I just feel so good,” she said.
As of 2 p.m., Monday, the group had raised close to $3,000 for Youth Haven and hoped for more by the end of the day.
To contribute to the fundraiser, head to Ford’s Tik Tok account @jordanford.omt or email him at [email protected].
