This group of Torontonians have been polar plunging for almost 100 days. Here's why

Hassan Haidar and his friends are nearly done their 100-day polar plunge challenge to fundraise money for families struggling to pay their hydro bills. (Courtesy of Hassan Haidar)

For the last 96 days, a group of Torontonians have been plunging into frigid lakes across the region to raise money for families who struggle to pay their hydro bills.

Hassan Haidar, a 29-year-old restaurant manager, told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday he had been thinking of challenging himself to do 100 consecutive days of cold plunges and decided to tie it into charity and raise money for families in need.

“[I] wanted to do something around heating for several reasons, one being that I couldn’t find any charities that did that kind of work, that shored up that gap for people who are unable to pay hydro bills,” he said.

“Some people do qualify for subsidies, but then there are those people who are just on the edge [where] they will have to make a decision between keeping heat on or groceries or their kids' extracurriculars.”

Haidar says he enlisted three of his friends – Thomas Argueta, Ryan George, and Chris Psutka – to help raise donations and partake in the 100-day challenge, which started back on Dec. 10. Others have also joined along the way to participate in the fundraiser, Haidar adds.

The polar plunger has been going neck-deep into various bodies of water across the Greater Toronto Area – and even as far as the Detroit River – for about two to five minutes at a time.

Haider said the most challenging plunges have been the days after the winter storms. “The lake has been really wavy [and] super aggressive, which makes it really hard to kind of do it safely,” he said.

For the final plunge on Sunday, Haidar said they will have a little gathering at Humber Bay in Etobicoke to celebrate the community and those who donated as they complete the challenge.

 

 

 

 

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As of Wednesday, Haidar says they have raised $6,200, which has been distributed among six eligible families. According to Haidar, each family is screened through an application process, and if eligible, will receive $500 upon approval.

Duncan Gillespie, executive director of the Canadian Training Institude – a non-profit organization – told CTV News Toronto they have been acting as the administrator in distributing donations to the recipients of the fundraiser.

"They were just a bunch of people who thought this was a great idea, and they were correct that it was a great idea, but they didn't know how to go about it in terms of logistics, in terms of getting the money, distributing the money, all those kinds of things," Gillespie said.

The goal is to raise $10,000, which Haidar says would be enough for 20 families’ hydro bills, and even though the cold plunge challenge is coming to an end, he says the fundraiser will stay active for at least another week.