The 13th annual Purple Plunge in Lake Zurich saw lake water temperature of 57 degrees with misty overcast weather at 63 degrees at 11 a.m. along Breezewald Beach on March 7.
The Saturday fundraiser with a tent party and raffle drew over 500 participants, called plungers who entered the lake water in Lake Zurich.
Since 2013, the Purple Plunge has helped cancer-impacted Lake County families facing unexpected expenses, including income loss and medical bills. Clinical visits, gasoline, transportation, and food, some as costly takeout meals purchased outside of regular grocery budgets, can adversely impact family finances.
Paul Hunt of Lake Zurich, president of the Purple Plunge, a 501c3 charity based in Lake Zurich, said the fundraiser’s goal was $250,000. As of Sunday, March 8, more than $300,000 was raised. See https://secure.qgiv.com/event/purpleplunge2026.
Hunt indicated about the generosity, “It just says that year after year, more and more people learn about us through word of mouth and they want to come and support us.
“What’s also so amazing is that the people we’ve helped…every year, some of them bring back (plunging) teams and they do fundraising themselves to help other families,” Hunt said.
When a person receives a cancer diagnosis, they are eligible to apply for funding from the Purple Plunge. The diagnosis is verified with the healthcare provider, and the charity votes as a board to approve funding.
The Purple Plunge began in memory of Buffalo Grove resident Mary Jo Bordenave, who died on Feb. 25, 2013, from lung cancer.
Barry Bordenave of Buffalo Grove, Mary Jo’s spouse and Purple Plunge vice-president, said on Saturday morning before the plunge, “All that I can say is that she’s (Mary Jo) looking down on all of us and grateful that we’ve helped 585 families so far.”
Barry Bordenave is “very proud of everybody associated with the Purple Plunge, it’s a group of us that do it as volunteers, everybody just does it because they want to help people.
“We enjoy just helping the people.”
Andrew Epstein of Lake Zurich, the Purple Plunge’s director of communications, plunged with a group donning yellow “Hulkamania” costumes. Sons Michael, 5, a preschooler, and Jonathan, 8, a second-grader, were plungers. The team had just won the grand champion trophy for best group costume.
“I hope we raise a ton of money for people in the town with cancer,” Andrew Epstein said.
New this year was bagpiper music courtesy of J. Kevin Chapman of Mount Prospect, who performed in traditional kilts despite windy, misty weather conditions.
“Hang in there,” Chapman said to all facing the impact of cancer.
Lake Zurich Mayor Tom Poynton was part of the annual purple ribbon cutting on the beach before plunging commenced.
The Purple Plunge is “just another great community event for a phenomenal cause, great crowd, another great event for Lake Zurich,” Poynton said.
“It says an awful lot about the people in Lake Zurich,” Poynton also said. “That’s why we live here, it’s a great group of people, great residents.
“It’s a homegrown money-raising group for a good cause,” Poynton added. “How do you beat that?”
Plunging groups entered the lake water after Barry Bordenave, in his signature purple derby hat (which blew off in the wind more than once), gave them the cue. Lake County groups represented locales such as Mundelein, North Barrington, Libertyville, and Deer Park as examples.
In a green knit hat and wearing a yellow SpongeBob SquarePants team costume with a “Bikini Bottom Plungers” theme was Yvette Bujak of Lake Bluff who raised an arm and said how stoked she was to plunge, “Whoo!!! I’m really excited!”
Will Soldano of Lake Zurich dove into the water upon entry.
“It was cold,” Soldano said shortly after returning to the beach to grab a towel.
Conor Clancy of Lake Zurich took the plunge and said about the cold water experience, “good, exhilarating, just go for it.”
To learn more about the Purple Plunge, visit https://www.purpleplunge.org/.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
