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Polar Plunge Benefits Families Of Sandy Hook Victims

We are approaching the one year anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting, and Sunday there was a show of support. At Lake Compounce in Bristol, cold water ...

We are approaching the one year anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting, and Sunday there was a show of support.

At Lake Compounce in Bristol, cold water and nerves of steel combined to make a heart-warming and unique tribute to the victims.

Molly Goodine, the organizer of this polar plunge, summed it up perfectly when she said:  “We’re freezing for a reason.”

Goodine, a teacher, came up with the idea that people could chill out for charity. The $50 entry fees go to the Sandy Hook Family Fund.  Last Dec. 14, Molly recalls that she was in her own classroom when news of the shooting started popping up on her cell phone.

“And at that point I knew I just had to do something to carry on the memory and help support them,” she said.

Appropriate that the first team to take this leap into the icy lake — Erica Lafferty, the daughter of fallen Sandy Hook school principal Dawn Hochsprung.

“If my mom was here, she’d be the first one in,” Lafferty said.

And as always, flaunting Vikki Soto’s favorite bird, the flamingo, her family members were there.

When you see these relatives who show such joy for living and good humor, in contrast to the darkness they endured last December, it’s hard to know what to say. How do you even begin?

“If you don’t know what to say, say hi,” Lafferty said. “That’s how you start a conversation with anyone. … And if you want to know what to do for the anniversary this year, just remember those who lost their lives and remember what they wanted those lives to be.”

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