Department Raises Funds For Special Olympics
It was 48 degrees and overcast as about a dozen people gathered around the dunk tank behind the Buena Vista police station Thursday evening, Feb. 26.
The chilly weather added some authenticity to the Buena Vista Police Department’s unorthodox approach to the Polar Plunge, a national event to raise money and awareness for the Special Olympics.
“This is an unusual version of it,” admitted Wayne Handley, interim Buena Vista city manager and just retired police chief. “We had planned on doing it on the day [Feb. 14] with everybody else.”
There were six Polar Plunge locations in Virginia this year with the closest to our area in Radford, but a local landowner offered the use of a large pond on their property. Unfortunately, on the day of the plunge, it was frozen solid. Weather and scheduling conflicts led to the decision to make it “kind of a community event and just put it in the parking lot,” said Handley.
Despite the date and venue change, everyone involved was enthusiastic about the department’s first time participating in the fundraiser. “I’m very excited to do the polar plunge.” Handley said.
Cpl. Josh Guttmann, the community resource officer and part of the department’s six-person fundraising team, said, “We raised over $1,500 online. … We’re super thankful for the public.”
This is not the only fundraiser that the police department participates in. “The Torch Run is another way for law enforcement to partner with Special Olympics, to raise awareness,” Guttmann said. “When you run in it, you have the actual athletes there cheering you on. This is really cool because they’re just super happy and it really is a heartwarming thing.”
“We did ‘Shop with a Cop.’” Handley added. “The Buena Vista Police Foundation was a big sponsor of that. We raised a good amount of money. Josh Guttmann was phenomenal in raising money for Christmas this year. We were able to sponsor a lot of kids this year.”
So what led to this year’s participation in the Polar Plunge? Guttmann gives some of that credit to Handley: “Obviously Wayne generated a lot of money. It’s a personal story to him.”
“I actually have a son who’s a special needs child, who used to participate in the Special Olympics through his school in Norfolk,” Handley said. “So that’s kind of how I became involved with it.”
When it came to the cold dip, four members of the fundraising team participated that evening: Handley, Guttmann, Dave Clements - interim Buena Vista police chief - and Mikki Prows who was recently hired after being an intern. Another member of their team, Matthew Bowser, participated the day after.
“Temperature: do not know, don’t care. I just know it’s very, very cold right now,” Handley remarked before the plunge began. He was probably right, considering the tank was filled three days ahead of time.
“Oh, it was really cold!” Prows said, shivering after her turn in the dunk tank. “I saw everybody going three times, so I want to be part of the team. Gotta pull your weight, you know?”
Handley, when asked about this year’s participation, said, “It won’t be the last. …We’re raising money for these things that we feel are worthy causes that are directly related to law enforcement engagement with the community that is not related to enforcement. So anytime we can do that, we’re going to take advantage of that opportunity.”
