Hundreds of folks turned out for the annual “Polar Bear Plunge” fundraiser for Special Olympics.

Melody Prawitz of Special Olympics of Missouri tells us he annual leap into the freezing waters of Lake Contrary is their premier fundraising event.

At least 400 “polar bears” registered for the event Saturday.

Supporters raise money in the form of sponsor donations to help pay for the uniforms, facilities, equipment and transportation for about one thousand Special Olympics athletes. Prawitz says the annual budget is about $52,000, and by late Friday, they had raised about half of that.

Here are some photographs from the event.