‘In the Ohio River?!’

By John Darr

(Louisville, KY) The day ResCare’s Karen Singleton, Shelly Duvall, Valerie Moorer and Leia Broadus, jumped in to the Ohio River was a typical February morning in Kentucky. The temperature - 30 degrees Fahrenheit, made even colder by an unforgiving breeze, oh yeah, and the fact that they were soaking wet.

ResCare’s Karen Singleton and Shelly Duvall were cold, wet and happy.

The frozen foursome were participants in Special Olympics Kentucky’s Polar Bear Plunge, an equally effective test of mettle as it is a fundraiser. ResCare A/R Process Team Member and Polar Bear Pluge team captain Mike Ehrler said friends, family members and coworkers donated more than $2,000 to Special Olympics as encouragement for the jumpers to actually go through with the icy act of bravery.

For Shelly Duvall, getting warm was just as difficult as getting dry after plunging in to the Ohio River in February.

“Many of my co-workers thought I was absolutely crazy for jumping,” Ms. Duvall, financial systems analyst, said. “But it really wasn't near as bad as I had imagined. Thankfully it was all over in a matter of minutes.”

Most participants splashed in wearing nothing more than a few layers of cotton clothing. Ms. Singleton, technical administrative assistant, kind-of sort-of cheated. She wore a wet suit, so only her feet, head and hands got wet. She even wore earplugs and pinched her nose as she went in.

“My husband was concerned because it was ‘THE OHIO RIVER’ but I was never really scared,” she said. “My daughter had cut her hair to have a wig made for cancer patients so I felt that this was one thing that I could do to show my support of those in need.”

Even with a wet suit on, Karen Singleton took a bit of the Ohio River with her.

The downtown waterfront event was quite an event – boats, vendors, music, hundreds of onlookers and even a few clowns entertained the kids. Each participant put on a life jacket supplied by the Louisville Fire and Rescue Department, stepped foot on a boat with three or four others, and took a long walk off a short deck.

“The most memorable part of the day was trying to get out of the water and up that ladder without losing my pants,” Ms. Moorer said.

Ms. Moorer and Ms. Broadus became friends while working together at Community Alternatives Kentucky – Louisville. Ms. Moorer is in the supported employment department and Ms. Broadus, who is still shocked how cold the water was that morning, is an administrative assistant. As expected, they jumped together.

“It was such a great atmosphere and it’s something that I plan to do every year from here on out,” Ms. Singleton said.

The ResCare Polar Bear Plunge Participants:

Mike Ehrler (team captain) - A/R process team member
Leia Broadus – CAKY Louisville administrative assistant
Shelly Duvall - financial systems analyst
Lawrence Godbey – HRIS/Kronos analyst
Valerie Moorer - from CAKY Louisville supported employment
Cheryl Roark – director of A/R special projects
Karen Singleton - technical administrative assistant