By Ashley St. Michel
Staff Writer
    The seventh annual Caring Unlimited Atlantic Plunge brought many brave souls out of their homes and onto Gooch’s Beach in Kennebunk for a quick dip Jan. 1.
    More than 300 participants waited amidst the harsh winds to sprint into the ocean for a refreshing dip. Many participants spent the first few moments before the run warming up by jumping up and down and huddling close to other Atlantic Plunge enthusiasts. The dive took place at 10:40 a.m., while the weather was still at a shocking 35 degrees.
    Caring Unlimited began in 1977, when a small group of women in southern Maine decided to help their friends and neighbors living in domestic violence situations. The women created Caring Unlimited in an effort to shelter women and their children in motel rooms and volunteers’ homes. Today, Caring Unlimited reaches more than 3,000 people in York County every year.
    Last year Caring Unlimited helped 3,566 individuals affected by domestic abuse through programs including their 24-hour hotline, emergency shelter, transitional housing and services, legal assistance, community support groups, school-based intervention and prevention and community response.
     Melvin Weiner of Kennebunk participated in the annual plunge, but said he was there raising money for other causes as well.
    “Last year I raised $1,100 for Caring Unlimited,” he said. “This year I decided to raise money and awareness for Pathways to Peace. The nice thing is I was still able to give Caring Unlimited $100.”
    Pathways to Peace is a non-profit international organization dedicated to peace building. The organization has several outreach programs, including the Peace Leadership Program, which teaches peaceful ways to youth worldwide and the Culture for Peace Initiative, which offers peace building ideas to people and organizations worldwide. Pathways worked with the United Nations 25 years ago to create the Unite Nations International Day for Peace.
    “This year I was focusing on something a little different,” Weiner said. “My goal is to raise $10,000 to be donated to World Peace Day.”
    Weiner said he read a story in an online newsletter about the United Nations International Day of Peace, Sept. 21. In 2006, more than half a billion people worldwide participated in “Peace Day” activities, which included a 300,000 person gathering in Sri Lanka, according to Weiner. He said all 192 countries on the planet participated in the day-long event ranging from prayer vigils to proclamations, guest speakers, ceremonies, exhibits and concerts.  
    Caring Unlimited Public Awareness and Community Support Coordinator Jill Barkley said the Polar Plunge brought a significant amount of people out to Gooch’s Beach this year. She couldn’t comment on the exact amount of money donated since donations for the event are accepted through the month of January. Barkley said the event always seems to bring a high number of participants out, since it is their largest fundraiser of the year.
    As a frequent Atlantic Plunge participant, Weiner said after he heard about the annual event he couldn’t help but try his hand at getting other people involved. Weiner is a director of sales and marketing at Sellers Publishing, a company that distributes calendars. He said he started making phone calls to friends in other publishing businesses and asked them to include Peace Day on their 2009 calendars.
    “I started getting in touch with other calendar manufacturers,” he said. “I basically devoted Sept. 21 of this year to getting other calendar publishers in the United States to include Peace Day. When I got such a good response, I took it a step further and I started contacting distributers I know all over the world.”
    Weiner said although he won’t be sending the money, which now totals more than $6,000 from the dip, to Caring Unlimited efforts, he recognizes their cause.
    “I can tell you from last year’s experience, there were still checks coming in until the end of January when I asked for donations for the Atlantic Plunge,” he said and added it will be hard to tell how much money he raised for Pathways to Peace. “So far I have raised $6,600.”
    Currently, there are more than 1,000 organizations involved in Peace Day activities, which Weiner said is about to change.
    “I know the calendar business world well,” he said. “In 2009, my educated guess is telling me that the United Day of Peace will be included in more than one billion calendars all over the world. We are not talking about having huge anti-war demonstrations. There’s all kinds of causes involved and more have continued to step up and state what their cause is because of Peace Day.”
    As for the Atlantic Plunge, Weiner said he spends a lot of time using his sauna in the winter to prepare himself for the dip.
    “I have a sauna that I spend time in, then I run and jump in the snow,” he said and added he even tried to add an extra element to his dipping procedure this year.
    A friend told him he would match the first $5,000 he raised if Weiner agreed to double dip.
    “I think it’s a fun thing to do,” he said. “You see people shivering, but I personally feel it’s invigorating. And when you know it’s a good cause, that’s makes it even more worth wild.”
To contact Ashley St. Michel, call 282-4337 ext. 228 or email news@kennebunkpost.com.