With temperatures on Saturday expected to be in the 30s with a chance for snow, the 3rd Annual Polar Plunge promises to be uncomfortable, at best.
But that won’t stop Ashley Richardson and her friends from taking part in the event to help someone they love.
“My friends are starting to freak out,” Ashley said. “They’re like, ‘Are we really doing this?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah.’”
Proceeds from the 3rd Annual Polar Plunge will go to benefit Special Olympics athletes. Ashley’s older sister, Dani Richardson, 21, has been a Special Olympian for eight years, and Ashley has been untiring in her efforts to help Dani, who has epilepsy.
“Dani’s my hero, she really is,” Ashley said. “She goes out of her way to help anyone, and everybody who knows her absolutely adores her. She’s had so many surgeries and she still never complains. She’s just happy happy.”
Ashley, who is from Waverly, is in her sophomore year at Emporia State University. Still, she doesn’t stray too far from her sister at home.
“I go home twice a week to see Dani,” Ashley said. “If I don’t, Dani calls me at like six in the morning when she wakes up.”
Dani takes part in a multitude of activities in the Special Olympics, including basketball, volleyball, track, cheerleading, soccer and bowling.
“Basketball and cheerleading are Dani’s favorites,” Ashley said. “She always bugs me more when in comes time for cheerleading. She’ll call me every single morning at like 8 o’clock and ask, ‘Have you thought of any cheers?’”
Dani’s interest in cheerleading stems from her experiences with Ashley’s high school squad. Dani is with COF Burlington, a training service workshop for people with special needs.
“They have about 25 people that like to play basketball. It’s kind of like a rec league,” Ashley said. “Dani’s the only girl that cheers.”
Ashley said other teams who play against COF Burlington have cheerleaders, and Dani wanted to cheer also.
“My sister always wanted to do it, but she didn’t want to do it alone,” Ashley said, so she got other girls in her squad to help with Dani’s cheers.
“We’d put her up in a little stunt or something, and she loved it.”
Ashley said there are still girls on the Waverly squad who help Dani cheer.
“Everybody really likes helping Dani out,” she said. “They’re really good about it.”
Though it will be Ashley’s first time to take part in the Polar Plunge, she has volunteered extensively for the Special Olympics and other organizations to help her sister. She has taken part in the Epilepsy Walk in Topeka several times, and she volunteers to help Dani’s basketball team in Burlington.
“The past several Wednesday nights we played in Burlington,” Ashley said. “They have to have two volunteers on each team, and I’ve always volunteered for that.”
Ashley is unwavering in her support for Dani, and they’ve been connected from the start.
“My sister and I are really close,” Ashley said. “I was kind of like the big little sister when we were growing up. I’d follow her around and we’d play together. I’d make sure she was never alone. She could never be alone.”
The two are so close that when Ashley came to Emporia for school, Dani went into a depression. She got sick, stopped eating and lost a great deal of weight.
“That’s why I go home so much now,” Ashley said.
Ashley and several of her best friends have formed a team for Saturday’s plunge: the Ninja Turtles. So far they have raised about $475.
“My friends all love Dani to death, so they’ve really been helping me to raise money,” Ashley said. “If we get enough money we’re going to try to get a couple more friends to do it.”
And Ashley said there will be no shortage of supporters from back home at the plunge.
“Like half the town of Waverly will be there on Saturday,” she said. “Everybody in Waverly, they really, really love Dani. She goes to all the games and she’ll just walk around and visit with everybody. They all love her, she’s really sweet.”
Money raised will go to fund activities for the Special Olympics, and to buy medals.
“Dani has this huge collection of medals in her room,” Ashley said.
Saturday’s activities will take place at Mouse Lake, 1101 Topeka St. Registration and activities will begin at 8 a.m. at the Emporia Senior Center, 603 E. 12th Ave. with a pancake feed for $5.
Registration will move to Mouse Lake at 10:30 a.m., and the plunge will take place at 11:30 a.m. After the plunge, a potato and soup bar will be offered at the senior center for $5.
Those who don’t want to participate in the plunge can still donate money. To donate, visit www.firstgiving.com/ksso, search for a friend who is plunging and click the Donate Now button.
So far, about 50 people have registered for the plunge. A minimum of $75 per individual is required to take part. For more information, call Jana Fornelli at 800-444-9803.
And though it will be a chilly plunge, it’s worth it for Ashley and her friends to help someone for whom they care so much.
“She’s my sister, and we’re the only two siblings,” Ashley said. “She would be there for me.”