This year, family and friends of our beautiful Koady Chaisson will be swimming (we use that term loosely) all winter to continue Koady's legacy of raising funds for really good causes.

We are opening the fundraiser earlier than the actual 'challenge' because this year's charity is Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders Canada. We have chosen this organisation in Koady's name because they can get into Palestine, the Ukraine, the Congo, and many other areas where the human suffering is just unbelievable - and the funds are needed now.

For previous fundraisers, we (Koady's family + friends and The East Pointers) have dipped:

But, we also:

March is by far the hardest month. March is by far the hardest month, and likely the month we will do the actual challenge. It’s the month of storms, of ice in the harbour. Koady loved getting into cold water. He loved the challenge and discipline, he loved discovering that he was capable of it. He loved taking other people in with him and laughing at their reactions. He loved the benefits he was seeing in himself and others; clear thinking, a sense of being alive and connected to the earth, a feeling of resilience and alignment. And afterwards, he loved building up the woodstove afterwards until the in-house temperature was almost unbearable, and making another pot of coffee while he tried to thaw his fingers out enough to pick up the tenor guitar.

How you can be part of Stay Cool, Swim Cold:

Thank you so much for any way in which you choose to be involved, whether donating, buying a shirt, or just immersing yourself in cold water and thinking of Koady.

More information about Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders Canada (MSF): Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Canada: MSF is an independent humanitarian medical relief organization, providing emergency medical care to people affected by war, civil strife, epidemics, natural disasters and social marginalization.