STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) – Oklahoma State Athletics members took an ‘icy plunge’ throughout the second annual Chilly Cowboy in help of Special Olympics Oklahoma.
According to OSU, the occasion’s objective was to lift $50,000 this 12 months, in comparison with final 12 months’s objective of $30,000. Coaches and athletes participated within the plunge whereas Cowboy supporters helped the trigger by donating simply over $50k.
“Last year we raised $34,000 in our first year to do this and I thought it was incredible, so we set a stretch goal to raise $50,000,” Darren Shrum stated. “And as usual, the Cowboy family stepped up.”
Former OSU softball participant Chelsea Alexander and First Cowboy Darren Shrum created the occasion in 2022.
“Every time Darren and I get the opportunity to support student philanthropy that goes toward making students’ lives better, we are so excited to do that,” OSU President Kayse Shrum stated. “This is a good instance of our pupil athletes supporting our Special Olympics athletes.
“Part of the Cowboy Code is we finish what we start, and this is finishing and jumping in the water.”
OSU says the unique threshold for this 12 months’s Chilly Cowboy was $10,000. As more distinguished OSU personalities had been to be dunked, the whole climbed. At the $50,000 mark, Cowgirl basketball coach Jacie Hoyt was subsequent to be dunked.
As donations continued to develop, Hoyt wasn’t certain if the $50,000 objective could be reached. After just a few late donations Monday morning, she additionally took the plunge.
“I think that Oklahoma State is just an amazing family,” Hoyt stated. “It’s a testament to the people here and always having so many people who are willing to be selfless and have each other’s backs and just support in whatever way possible.”
The occasion included a text-to-give raffle, an public sale throughout a latest Cowboys males’s basketball recreation and donations made to the Chilly Cowboy occasion.
“I think it’s just a really cool way to combine things I am passionate about and that is OSU athletics and Special Olympics Oklahoma,” Alexander stated.
OSU says a number of the proceeds from this 12 months’s occasion will probably be given to the OSU Unified College Program, a company that advantages Special Olympics student-athletes at Oklahoma State. The group companions college students with Special Olympic athletes who compete in opposition to different unified college athletes.
“The money that we raise, I think of it as athletes helping athletes,” Alexander stated. “It’s really cool for us to use our platform and give back to the community that is so strong here. And this year I’m really excited because a portion of our proceeds are going to help OSU Unified. It is really an exciting time for us to help out our community here throughout Stillwater and throughout Oklahoma.”
OSU baseball members and coaches, males’s and girls’s basketball, equestrian, soccer, rodeo, softball, males’s and girls’s tennis, monitor and area, and wrestling joined in. OSU soccer coach Rob Glass, assistant athletic director of athletic efficiency, was on the $40,000 tier.
“I’ve always enjoyed helping the Special Olympics,” Glass stated. “We’ve had powerlifting for years and this is a great opportunity to get people together for a great cause.”
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