Join brave and intrepid dippers at Hollywood Beach on New Year’s morning for the Annual Port Angeles Polar Bear Dip. The official start of the Dip is at 10 a.m. Red Lion Inn and Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County (VHOCC) will be on-site on Saturday, Jan. 1, with complimentary hot beverages and pastries.

The event is a fundraiser for Volunteer Hospice, and several staff members are challenging the community to get them to take the plunge or get drenched by buckets of ice water. Among them, the Nurse Report team (made of nurses from VHOCC, but open to any nursing professional) and Astrid Raffinpeyloz, Volunteer Services Manager. VHOCC Volunteer Dan Welden will also get in the water —for the 34th consecutive year. He says, “it’s about getting the craziest thing you’ll do all year out of the way the very first day.”

Visit the VHOCC booth to learn more about the many volunteer opportunities or to donate. Polar Bear dips and plunges happen throughout the world, but this event supports a dedicated and critical outreach organization in our community. Currently, 150 volunteers, a clinical staff of 10, and a small administrative staff of 4 serve a patient base averaging 120 and many more clients in the grief support programs. Learn about our Lending Closet of medical equipment available to anyone in the community. All services provided by VHOCC are free of charge.

Donations to VHOCC can be made online (specify Polar Bear Dip in the “Anything else” section), by mail, at the office on the corner of 8th and Race streets, or at the event itself.

Call Dan Welden (360-477-2586) for more information. As Dan says of the annual dip, “It’s the fountain of youth. You don’t get older; you just get colder! You are frozen in time!”

Gather a group of friends and challenge each other to raise the most money for our local hospice. Call the Hospice office at 360-452-1511 for ideas on how to make the dipping experience more comfortable and less shocking.