Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Special Olympics Kansas on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 274
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We spotlight the Manhattan Polar Plunge and how one brave jump funds health screenings, Unified sports, and leadership for 10,000 Special Olympics Kansas athletes. Katelyn Andrist and Corporal Rachel Pate share how athletes and officers build real inclusion, one cheer and costume at a time.
• Polar Plunge purpose, date, location, and $100 fundraising minimum
• Healthy Athletes screenings and statewide impact
• Unified sports with K‑State volunteers and community teams
• Law Enforcement Torch Run partnership and officer participation
• Costume tips, heated tents, and event flow
• Why saying athletes’ names and showing up matters
• How to register, form teams, and out-fundraise RCPD
• Statewide plunges and school-led “cool school” events
Register at soks.org for the Manhattan Polar Plunge on February 14 at Tuttle Creek Lake State Park. Registration opens at 10 a.m., teams start at 11 a.m.
Meet Caitlin Andrist And RCPD
SPEAKER_02Philanthropy today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode, we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on News Radio KMAN. And we are back with the GMCF Community Hour here on News Radio KMAN, Special Olympics, Kansas. We bring in Caitlin Andrist. Hello there.
SPEAKER_01Hello, good morning.
SPEAKER_02You are uh known throughout the community as a kind of like um a Miss Kansas contestant.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02And uh after you graduated from K-State, what's it been a year and a half now?
SPEAKER_01Yes, isn't that crazy?
SPEAKER_02Took on your dream job of working for Special Olympics, Kansas. Because that is something that's just been totally passionate for you.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, yeah. The last seven years I've been a volunteer, I've been a coach, I've been all of these things for them, and then a partnership through Miss Kansas, and then now, yeah, my dream job. So it's been really cool to grow up with my athletes too.
SPEAKER_02You're also an author.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I am an author of my children's book, Becoming Confident, and it's just so much fun to see that confidence is with everyone. So inclusion is such a huge word that it's not just for our athletes, it's for the community in the state of Kansas.
SPEAKER_02Well, we're going to talk about Special Olympics today. You brought a frame along from Riley County Police Department. Do I call you officer or do you have a rank um Corporal? Corporal Rachel Pade.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm happy to be here this morning.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't know if I've ever had a chance to interview on the interview you on the radio before.
SPEAKER_00I don't think I've been on with you. I've been on uh with some others.
SPEAKER_02Some other Yahoos back at the radio station.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, a few times, but mainly about Special Olympics stuff.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because you used to be the PR person.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was a PIO for three different interim types of people.
SPEAKER_02PIO, that's the term.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So learned a lot, and uh I'm very grateful for that experience.
SPEAKER_02Uh-huh. And now you carry 73 different electronic and powerful devices that nobody wants to mess with you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I'm in community outreach now, so I get to again do some PR stuff, but you know, we'll let uh the PIO official duties go to the experts.
SPEAKER_02Who's here in an official capacity with his iPhone?
SPEAKER_00There he is.
Special Olympics Kansas Mission
SPEAKER_02Well, we're gonna talk about Special Olympics uh from um a couple of different perspectives. We've got an event that's coming up. And uh Caitlin, let's let's just give our listeners just a the 30-second elevator speech about what Special Olympics is and what you do in the community.
SPEAKER_01So we serve statewide. So a lot of times within Special Olympics, it's not just a basketball game or a track game. We also have healthy athlete leadership. We have different health screenings. So when you become an athlete, you are elevated not only physically, mentally, and emotionally, but overall we're building that gap with our police officers, the law law and torchment force around to help people understand we are coming into town and we are here for inclusion and we are gonna hear their voices.
SPEAKER_02You know, I've uh been involved in a lot of special Olympians' lives in one capacity or another. And um, I went, I I I think it was last year I went to go see a Special Olympics basketball game. And my buddy Seth, our buddy Seth.
SPEAKER_01We love Seth. I bet you Seth is listening right now because he texted me and said, What time you're going on with day. Did he know? Oh, yes, he did.
SPEAKER_02So we're giving Seth the official radio shout out.
SPEAKER_01I guess so, but I love all my athletes, and that is on on file.
SPEAKER_02You know, I have an autograph basketball by Seth.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I do.
SPEAKER_02Did I tell you about that?
SPEAKER_01No, I want one.
SPEAKER_02I yeah, I it was just on the whim. You know, he scored the game-winning three-pointer. And I so I I was walking out and I saw that, you know, they had like the Special Olympics basketball. So I bought one and said, hey, buddy, side this.
SPEAKER_01Oh, but see, that be his whole entire day. And that's kind of what our role is to be.
SPEAKER_02It's worth a million bucks, he tells me.
Athlete Stories And Inclusion
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because people understand they're going to think about that for the rest of their lives. And so within my role and having Rachel as like my wingwoman with different events, you know, we are creating the whole experience for them because people don't understand our athletes are already 16 years less life. So that's a very important job and a very sometimes pressure for me if I have certain events that, you know what, I want to give them the world because a lot of times our athletes, you know, they don't get to sometimes leave their group home or they only go to our basketball games on Mondays with different things with Unified. So it's really important that I create a communal aspect, but also that also plays the game, too, of they now feel more comfortable to go into your small business. They feel more comfortable, comfortable to leave their house. I think inclusion is such a big aspect right now.
SPEAKER_02I think one of the things, Rachel, that's really cool is what police all over the nation do on behalf of Special Olympics. The torch run, all kinds of fun things that you get to do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the law enforcement torch run initiative, it's something I actually have a sibling, my older brother. Um, he has he lives in a group home up in the Kansas City area. So he was a Special Olympics athlete, and I watched him growing up. And then when I became a cop at Connaby, it was full circle. I didn't know the partnership that we had with Special Olympics and doing those fundraisers, just meeting those athletes. Um, my family volunteers with Special Olympics outside of the torch run events that we do. Um, but Polar Plunge is one of our most favorite. I have plunged in the past, I'm not doing it this year. Um, but you know, it's it's such a great experience, and it's such a great time to create those relationships with the athletes and just watch them grow um over each event that we attend with them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I uh don't do it anymore. It's it's a it's an old man health issue.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, me too. I that's what I'm gonna say too.
SPEAKER_02Old man.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, old man health issue over here. Can't plunge anymore. I did it twice, I'm done.
SPEAKER_01Hey, I just knew and I plunged last year, but I am plunging again. I do get rocked in every single year.
SPEAKER_02But but but I remember I I think I have a a plaque somewhere because I've raised the most money.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because I made a few phone calls and people wanted to see me freeze to death.
SPEAKER_00I mean, we could probably do it again if you want to jump this year.
SPEAKER_02It's February 15th, right?
SPEAKER_00The 14th.
SPEAKER_01So it's Valentine's Day. So if you don't even have plans, have no man, come out to the polar plunge. I think it's so much fun. A lot of times, you know, when we're in our role, things just fall on holidays, and our athletes are so excited because red is Special Olympics. So it's just gonna be a fun day.
Law Enforcement Torch Run
SPEAKER_02Okay. All right, February 14th.
SPEAKER_01Yes, so February 14th at Tuttle Creek Lake State Park. Registration opens at 10 a.m. You can go online right now, and we have all of our different polar plunge cities and times around, but for Manhattan, you know, 11 a.m., that's when all the teams come out, and we'll have an athlete there doing the athlete athlete oath and just different fun things. And so each plunger has to raise$100, and that goes directly to our statewide programming because we serve about 10,000 athletes. So a lot of times the Polar Plunge is one of our largest law enforcement torch run partnerships, just because throughout the year, then that's how we set up for you know healthy athletes, free screening, free all of that for our athletes.
SPEAKER_02So are they going to go to the beach and then run into the water?
SPEAKER_01Yep. So you'll get with the team or yourself for how you want to do it. And yes, I will count down three, two, one with our athletes, and then all of our crazy people run out together, and it's really fun. It's just really cool to see them all united because it is cold and they come out in shorts, t-shirts, costumes, and they are like hyped, ready to go, and it's a fun and energetic place.
SPEAKER_02But oh, I know. I'm well aware. I think the water temperature when I jumped in was 44 degrees.
SPEAKER_01I think one year they said they had even cut ice out. So I mean it can get pretty nasty of trying to get in that cold water.
SPEAKER_02Great.
SPEAKER_01So come out, it'll be so much fun.
SPEAKER_02We're doing a great job of enticing people to come out.
SPEAKER_01Hey, you know what?
SPEAKER_02But the thing is, it's out of your comfort zone.
SPEAKER_01So I think with Special Olympics, we push our athletes to go outside of their comfort zone. Push yourself too. Even myself. I was kind of nervous last year, being my first year, first polar plunge, and I ended up running into it. And it was just so much fun because to have your athletes cheering you on and give you a hug, that is what makes my job so special.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. They are just the best, the most loving people.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. They don't even know what love is because they are love. A lot of them don't understand that they're the light within, you know, the room and that they bring so much happiness and joy and gratitude that it makes you stop and think about the things that you are upset about is nothing compared to what they have to go through in their life.
SPEAKER_02Rachel, do you have a lot of your colleagues that jump in the water too?
Polar Plunge Basics
SPEAKER_00We do. The RCPD team has been put together and um they have a goal each year to win the costume contest. So there are about 10 different themes or 10 different ideas uh that they've been voting on, and the team is getting ready. Um, I think they've raised over$1,600 so far. So, you know, we challenge people in the community, come out, you know, try and raise more than RCPD. We'd love to have a little friendly competition. And cold plunges are trending. So it's really easy for me right now to get our officers and dispatchers and corrections officers to plunge because it's kind of a cool thing to do. And what better way to try it than with a team? It's a great health benefit.
SPEAKER_02I'm sure it is. There's nothing that'll wake you up quicker than jumping in 40 degree water.
SPEAKER_01And then exactly, and then guess what? You have the whole rest of the afternoon, the evening to do whatever you'd like for Valentine's Day. So you're already just ready to go for the day.
SPEAKER_02You know, you owe yourself a steak dinner after that.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. You really do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. And chocolate. Gotta have a lot of hot, hot chocolate.
SPEAKER_01Hey, and listen, as the event coordinator, if you come out, I might have hot chocolate. We might have walking tacos, I might have cookies. I mean, there's lots of different things.
SPEAKER_02You might have all of these things.
SPEAKER_01Might have is yes. But still come out.
SPEAKER_02Might have. Okay. All right. So, how many plungers do you get for this event every year?
SPEAKER_01It just depends. We can see from 150 to 250. I love that we have the K-State partnership here with Unified. We have a lot of K-State students that come out every Monday for our Unified program. And a lot of them, you know, fall in love with our athletes. And so a lot of our frats and sororities and community members, organizations, they're making teams. And so it's really cool this year to see our Manhattan plunge has just really gone over the iceberg, you know, pun no pun intended. But I mean, no one's laughing. Okay, Rachel's laughing.
SPEAKER_02I laughed a little bit.
SPEAKER_01But I know people just have to realize. Yeah, I know, very, very little bit. Yeah, just come see it for yourself. Because even myself, when I did my first plunge almost a couple years ago, I was really confused of what do you mean we're gonna run in the water for inclusion? Well, it makes sense. Your athletes, they're right out there waiting for you. That's breaking the barrier, that's breaking the ice, that's creating this new environment that with them, if you can run into cold water, then they can do anything. I think people forget it's not just the polar plunge. Yes, that's an important event coming up, but it's just seeing them in the community. It's seeing their medals, it's coming to those games on Monday, and it's just stopping to say, hi, Cody, or hi Seth. It's saying their name because they want to be just like us. They want to be treated as human beings.
SPEAKER_02What are some of the favorite costumes that you have seen at Polar Plunch? I'm gonna start with three.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I bet you have some stories.
Why The Plunge Matters
SPEAKER_02And and it can't be fair for for some of you that are in the life-saving world to wear your life-saving devices when you jump in that water.
SPEAKER_00So we used to have some teams that would win every year because they'd be, you know, cops and robbers, and we'd have somebody come in a jail uniform. But we've been really trying to step it up. I think that my favorite of all time um was one year. I don't remember what the theme was, but they did win, and they were mermaid man and barnacle boy. And when they jumped into the water, it was one that we had in a pool with a platform, right? And they jumped in and they were riding the invisible boatmobile. So we have a photo on our wall in dispatch of um, it was our uh dispatch supervisor, um, head of our CRM, and he did it with one of our dispatchers, and it is iconic. Um, they looked the part uh, and it was just a really funny time for everybody at RCPD.
SPEAKER_02That must have been really special. What do you wear?
SPEAKER_00Um, the year that I did it, we we wore like shower caps, and it was, you know, we were all together in that. Um I've learned that you don't want to wear an intense costume that has a lot of parts because then you're freezing a lot of weight. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It soaks up a lot of water. A lot colder.
SPEAKER_00You want, you know, maybe go for a swimsuit. And the year, the theme this year is a pool party. Um, so that's a great theme. Wear a swimsuit, you can get out of it quick and get into your warm clothes in those warming tents.
SPEAKER_02All right.
SPEAKER_00Cool party in Kansas. Literally, coolest.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I guess, yes. I know what you said.
SPEAKER_00You got more people to laugh that time.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. I know everyone can hear that totally.
SPEAKER_02Well, and I'm I'm sitting here thinking, you know, you know, just to say cold, ice cold, you know, just uh didn't quite play in.
SPEAKER_01But so my butt you know, once you just do it, it really isn't that bad because we've even had athletes that have been scared to do it, but then they out, they all they all go out at there. And I'm like, you know what? That's embarrassing for me. That's I need to be their role model because a lot of times there are role models, they're the ones that are pushing us to do things, and I think it's just really cool.
SPEAKER_02You'll have a heated tent there.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yes, we'll have a heated tenth. Yes, you will. Oh, yes, yes, heated tent. We have uh the heaters inside the tent. So there you go. Of like it is a warm just oven when you go in there. I mean, it's and I have a tarp under there, so no sand, because I understand too, you don't want to have sand everywhere and being freezing cold. And you know, you get a really fun t-shirt that supports Special Olympics Kansas too, alongside it. I mean, it's long sleeved, so I mean, again, bring a jacket.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Maybe more than one. Maybe more than one.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I learned my lesson last year. My mom brought me an extra jacket because I only brought one.
SPEAKER_02How can people get involved at this point? I mean, we're three weeks away.
Team Spirit And Fundraising
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, yeah. You can go on our website for specialympicskans.org and we have the Polar Plunge uh registration link. And so you can go in there, registrate yourself, a team, you just fundraise, and then boom, you show up that day. So it's super simple. And I have loved how the community has really stepped up this year. We have one of our partners, Gia Salon, that has just really came with us to create teams and have their stylist and their clients start making teams, and that's how it happens in a really tight-wick community like Manhattan. It's not just spreading the word, but it's being passionate about that.
SPEAKER_02The website is soks.org. If you want to find out more about being involved in Special Olympics and the Manhattan Polar Plunge, how many other polar plunges are involved in Special Olympics throughout the state?
SPEAKER_01Oh my goodness. I want to say on top of my head, we have about 15 to 17. However, that's not including cool school plunges. So we do have for our high school and middle school, we have a cool school plunge. So Jake and I and Caitlin and the whole team are pretty busy throughout the next couple of months with polar plunges.
SPEAKER_02All right. Corporal Pate, thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I I hope that next year you participate so we can get a little bit more animated with our discussion. I think that'd be a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00It's early still, you know.
SPEAKER_02It is.
SPEAKER_00My coffee's kicking in, so I'll get there. Next year I'll have two before I show up.
SPEAKER_02It's almost 11 o'clock, so good luck with that.
SPEAKER_00Do you see how we work so well together?
SPEAKER_02I I see that.
SPEAKER_01I'm the chill to her uh excitement. So yeah, we we we work together well. And then she chills my excitement to bring me back down to earth because then all of a sudden I know. That's okay. She does great. She's like a big sister and a great mentor. Rachel is amazing.
SPEAKER_02And she is Caitlin Andrus. She's the special events coordinator with Special Olympics, Kansas. When we come back from the break, uh Jane is going to be joining us. We got a lot of things in our community calendar to talk about. And uh then uh we'll give you a preview of next week's show. It's the GMCF Community Hour. We do this every Monday morning. Next week will be in the 10 o'clock hour, but the week after we switch up to nine here on news radio KMAN.