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Health & Fitness

Join this Saturday's Polar Bear Jump for Cancer!

Jump/watch the 9th Annual Polar Bear Jump this Saturday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Portage Lakes State Park! Help raise money for the cancer community!

Looking to cross something off your bucket list in 2012? How about jumping into a lake this weekend?

It might sound crazy, but hundreds of people will strip down to their trunks this Saturday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. to jump into Portage Lakes for the Ninth Annual Polar Bear Jump.

The Portage Lakes Polar Bear Club is focusing their fundraising efforts on the cancer community this year, donating proceeds from the event to , Camp Quality Ohio and the American Cancer Society.

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This is the first year jumpers will have a choice as to which charity they raise funds for. Each jumper pays a $25 registration fee, and is encouraged to fundraise prior to the event. Last year jumpers raised more than $40,000 for the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank.

Stewart’s Caring Place’s Executive Directors Sarah Tower and Stacey Manes, along with some board members and other staff members, will be jumping into the lake on behalf of the organization. Tower said they are recruiting other Akron community representatives to help, and the NEO Roller Derby is one group that has committed to jumping.

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“We are thankful and gracious to the club for helping bring information about cancer out to the community through these jumps, and we are so grateful for being a part of it this year,” said Tower.

Tower added the money raised from the Polar Bear Jump will go directly back to programs and services, ensuring they will always be free-of-charge to those touched by cancer.

Jumpers are asked to arrive by 12:30 p.m. for registration; jumping will start at 2 p.m. at the main swim beach in the park located at 5031 Manchester Road. A minimum $25 in sponsorship is required to register to jump, and those who raise at least $100 will receive a free T-shirt.

To become a jumper for Stewart’s Caring Place, sponsor a jumper, or to donate to the event, visit our website now!

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