Nothing beats shivering for a good cause.
Harrison held the first annual Wildcat Dunk event on February eighth in downtown Harrison and raised more than twelve thousand dollars for the Special Olympics program and community fund.
When promoting the event on the High School teams pages, Mike Morris, the director of Facilities and Communication, said, “The Wildcat Dunk is an exciting community event that brings together students, families, and community members to support a great cause.”
Emily Holbert, an intervention specialist at Harrison High School, came up with the idea for and organized the Wildcat Dunk. She says that prior to the Dunk, many staff members, including herself, participated in the Hamilton County Special Olympics Polar Plunge for over seventeen years.
“During COVID, we were challenged to hold our own virtual plunge,” says Mrs. Holbert, “We gathered a team and had the fire station spray us using their trunks out on the football field.” This is where Holbert first got the idea for Harrison to start their own plunge.
Holbert says that there have been a few changes in the Hamilton County Special Olympics daytime programs, which inspired her to do more for the students within our community. It wasn’t until last year that Holbert began to organize what would become the Wildcat Dunk.
In the early stages, Holbert learned that planning and organizing Harrison’s own plunge would be quite difficult. As Holbert puts it, “The planning piece was a bit of a beast, to be honest.” She worked hard all spring to get the right people aboard to make the Wildcat Dunk a reality. Holbert was eventually able to get ahold of Kim Sovern with the Harrison Recreation Commission. Holbert says that Sovern was a huge part of organizing the Dunk and making it happen.
Advertising the event was also an obstacle for Holbert, saying, “My husband and I spent many days going business to business in Harrison to gain support and spread the word.” Despite the many challenges, the hard work of Holbert and the others paid off.
In the end, the first annual Wildcat Dunk raised more than twelve thousand dollars. The money raised will go to the Junior and Senior High Special Olympics and Community Fund. Holbert says the money will be used to support students at Harrison with their Special Olympic training and learning in the community, as well as funding activities for students like Kings Island and the movie theatre.
“The event was much bigger than we initially anticipated,” says Holbert, “And we can only hope that it will grow each year.”
