FAIRLAWN, Va. – People are gearing up to “go for the cold” for the 2024 Polar Plunge.
The Polar Plunge is a huge fundraising effort benefiting Special Olympics and the athletes and one team is honoring their own who unexpectedly passed away last month.
“She’ll just have a big smile on her face, she’ll probably be laughing because she had such a good sense of humor,” Angela Price, a member of the Pulaski County Plungers said.
Friends would say Rhonda Johnston had a good spirit.
“It didn’t matter if we were at the Polar Plunge and it was super cold, she was always happy,” Johnston said.
Price said Johnston was the Pulaski County Plungers team leader and loved the Polar Plunge so much they would dress up differently each year.
“She was the motivation behind different things, I feel like this year will be a different year,” Price said.
Team members said this will be different since Johnston passed away unexpectedly in January.
They said Johnston was a special education paraprofessional at Pulaski County High School.
“She had a huge impact on the people she came in contact with on a daily basis, the people at school,” Price said.
Because of Johnston’s impact, the community is rallying to remember her.
Instead of getting Johnston flowers to honor her memory, the community is asked to donate to her team for the Polar Plunge.
The Pulaski County Plungers have raised more than $16,000 to remember a woman who loved Special Olympics.
“We have had a wonderful outpouring of support from the community, I think we’ll definitely feel her absence at that time, but also I think there will be some happiness there as well,” Price said.