It’s February in North Carolina.

It is a time for freezing winds, cold weather, sleet and hot chocolate.

But thrown into the dreary wintry mix coming down Saturday morning at Lake Raleigh was an unusual ensemble.

A polar bear in a bathing suit. A flamingo. A racecar enthusiast. A rather large infant.

All part of a group of around 40 students and staff members poised to take an icy plunge into the lake for charity at Campus Police’s first Polar Plunge.

“You actually raise money for the privilege to jump in the lake on a cold day,” Sgt. Jon Barnwell of Campus Police said. “It sounds kind of weird, but people are up for it.”

Police departments across the state have teamed up with Special Olympics to raise money through the Polar Plunge for athletes who may not have the funds for equipment and travel otherwise.

“For the first year, it was very successful. We couldn’t have asked for better weather as far as being a real polar plunge,” Barnwell said. “We even had some sleet, so we got to see the weather cooperate as far as being a little cool. The water was very cold, and the enthusiasm of the jumpers was great.”

Barnwell and fellow officer Lillian Moore helped head up the Polar Plunge, and both said they were pleased that they were able to cover event expenses through sponsorship.

“It’s not a thing where we start out kind of in the red so to speak,” Moore said. “We got enough sponsors right from the beginning. So every bit of money made today goes directly to Special Olympics.”

The registration fee for plungers was $50, and many participants raised well over that.

Mark Carpenter and Phil Swaney, both staff members in Facilities, collected sponsorships for more than $600 apiece.

Volunteers Ginger Warren, a sophomore in biochemistry, and Jessica Collins, a senior in science, technology and society, got involved with the event through Sigma Kappa. Though neither was willing to jump into the lake, both said they were excited about seeing it.

“We’ve never been to this before so I’m excited to see them jump actually,” Warren said.

To be considered a plunge, the participants had to completely submerge their head under water. A few brave souls even swam around a bit, and after getting out, jumped in again.

Jacob Shivers, a freshman in First Year College, represented the Student Senate at the Polar Plunge.

Shivers went in three times, and although incredibly cold, he described it as exhilarating.

“The third time my adrenaline had worn off and by that time I was like, ‘You know what? I’m doing this for charity,'” Shivers said. “There were other people in there so it didn’t seem too ridiculous. And doing flips in the water always helps.”

Organizers provided changing tents for participants to dry off after their dip, and there was plenty of chili and hot chocolate to help them warm up afterward.

Drawings were held for assorted prizes, such as a free weekend on a Harley, free indoor tanning, hats and shirts.

Jumper Mike Thomas of Public Safety was awarded the mighty golden plunger. Thomas was one of many to wear a costume, and he looked like he had walked straight out of Grease — as Sandy.

Swaney won a separate award for best costume after dressing as a giant baby, complete with a huge diaper and pacifier. His granddaughter, Montana Walker, won the female division of the contest dressed as a nerd.

David Serxner, a staff member in the library and a member of the Staff Senate, was an honorable runner-up. Enthusiastic about the cause, he came in a polar bear costume, complete with penguin swim trunks, “floaties” and an inner tube.

“My family has always done things for Special Olympics — volunteering and things like that,” he said.

Serxner said coming up with his costume idea was easy.

“The polar bear was in my closet, so I figured, it’s a polar bear plunge, wear the polar bear suit,” he said. “And his back story is that he’s afraid of water, so I had the floaties, I had the inner tube and I had the goggles.”

While fun, he said the polar bear suit wasn’t the safest costume.

“I started to take on water real fast and it was hard to get out,” Serxner said. “I’m glad I actually had that thing [inner tube] because they would have been pulling me out if it hadn’t been for that.”

The award for largest business group plunge went to Facilities, which had around five or six members.

The largest student group plunge was a tie between The InterResidence Council and Alpha Zeta, each having about six members, and the student group to raise the most money was Navy ROTC with more than $600.

Caroline Benson, a junior in animal science, and Selby Lo, a sophomore in First Year College, were two of the representatives from IRC. Both students agreed that it was incredibly cold, but fun at the same time.

“It was more miserable waiting than anything,” Benson said.

Lo agreed, and said next year he would sponsor someone else to do it.

However, Lon Sims, a sophomore in economics and another member of IRC, was enthusiastic about next year.

“I’m definitely doing it again,” Sims said.

Shivers agreed.

At the end of the day, the Polar Plunge raised more than $3,200, and Barnwell said he felt it was a promising beginning to the new tradition.

“We had a lot of student groups turn out, I was very excited about that. The student organizations participated so I think it’s something that we can build a solid foundation on for the future,” he said. “We really were successful in what we started out to do, and that’s to raise money for the Special Olympics.”