LI Families To Take A Plunge For Special Olympics This Saturday

MOUNT SINAI, NY —On Saturday Long Islanders will be taking a brisk dip at Cedar Beach, for a good cause. For the 12th year, the 2021 Brookhaven Polar Plunge will be held at Mount Sinai's Cedar Beach, and participants will be raising funds to sponsor Special Olympics athletes.

Registration is at 9:30 to 11 a.m., and the plunging goes from 11 a.m. until noon.

One Miller Place family has been taking the plunge since 2013. Robert Fitton began the family tradition at age nine, in honor of his youngest brother Tommy, now 8, who has Down Syndrome.

Robert now leads a team of 30 teenagers and children, including his siblings and cousins and friends, called Team ExtraOrdinary. They have raised over $100,000 for the Special Olympics since 2013.

Rob Fitton, Robert and Tommy's father tells Patch that the team's efforts is an inspiring example of young people getting involved in a good cause.

"We hear so much about how our young people are addicted to their phones and vapes and other things—this is an amazing group of kids and parents that participate."

The money raised allows "more special people like my son Tommy can participate."

The average cost of sponsoring a Special Olympics athlete in New York is $400.