The efforts behind a charity event this past Friday at the Eagle Rock Resort in Hazle Township PA have continued to gain popularity and build interest throughout eastern Pennsylvania – and even worldwide. If you are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or other social media sites, you’ve probably already noticed a large number of videos showing random individuals entering cold waters.
It all started when family, friends and resort staff organized an outdoor fundraiser, titled “Cold Water Challenge”, at the resort’s Susquehanna Lake on April 18 to benefit the Team Sanfilippo Foundation and in honor of Brayden, 6, and Ryan Kapes, 9, of Weston (Luzerne County), Pennsylvania. The simple event involved resort residents jumping into 45 degree Fahrenheit water for a donation.
Both Brayden and Ryan are stricken with Sanfilippo syndrome, also known as mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS disorder, MPSlll), a genetic error of metabolism. Currently, there is no treatment or cure for the disease and the life expectancy of children with Sanfilippo syndrome is approximately 10 to 20 years.
Since the April 18 challenge, hundreds of new “nominees” have voluntarily continued the challenge by entering cold waters in support of the cause. Videos on Facebook, both local and around the nation, show these nominees taking part in the challenge. A few of which were said to be recorded in other countries.
The continued challenge, now unofficially accepted as “24-Hour Cold Water Challenge in Support of Team Sanfilippo Foundation in Honor of the Kapes Brothers”, doesn’t appear to have it’s own official website or Facebook page; although a number of Facebook pages have popped-up to showcase videos of some of the latest challenges.
News stories online show that these types of challenges have grown in popularity over the past few months and are gaining attention all over the United States. In addition, these stories talk about the possible dangers of cold water challenges, pointing out that most won’t have EMS or paramedic crews on standby. To view some of these related stories, click “cold water challenge“.

The below rules (not official) appear to be the accepted general guidelines for most cold water challenges:
1. An individual must be nominated to participate.
2. The new nominee must completely and safely immerse himself/herself into a body of cold water (whether it be a swimming pool, pond, lake, river, bathtub).
3. The nominee must complete the challenge within 24-hours after their nominator has completed his/her challenge.
4. Prior to their own challenge, the nominee must also nominate and announce three new nominees to continue the challenge. Each nominee is encouraged to record a video of his/her challenge and share it online. In the video, each nominee is asked to read a script just before entering the cold water.
The script reads: “I, ( nominee name ) from ( city/state ), am immersing myself today ( today’s date ) into cold water in ( city/state ) in support of the ( full challenge title ).  I was nominated by ( nominator name ) from ( city/state ).  The three people I am nominating to continue the challenge within 24 hours are ( nominee name #1 ) from ( city/state ), ( nominee name #2 ) from ( city/state ), and ( nominee name #3 ) from ( city/state ).”

Here are a few local Facebook pages or video links of related interest:
– (Team Sanfilippo www.teamsanfilippo.org)
– (24 hr. Cold water challenge to benefit the Kapes brothers, link for benefit below)
– (Eagle Rock Resort)
– (Eagle Rock Residents Take The Plunge For  A Good Cause – WYLN TV coverage)
– (Horse and Rider Enter the Cold Water – Eagle Rock Resort)
– (Tamaqua Councilman Justin Startzel Does the Challenge)
– (Tamaqua’s Tim Stahl Does the Challenge)
– (Tamaqua’s Norman Thomas Does the Challenge)
– (Tamaqua’s Kyle Oliphant Does the Challenge)
– (Lansford’s Mark Williams Does the Challenge)
– (Tamaqua’s Nicolee Dallatore Does the Challenge)

A number of local nominees online have said that donations to the Team Sanfilippo Foundation are not required, but encouraged.
An April 19 posting on the Eagle Rock Resort’s Facebook page about their April 18 challenge reads, “All donations will help find a cure for Sanfilippo Syndrome. Eagle Rock participated in honor of local resident Carl Kapes and his two boys who are affected by the syndrome.”
To view a related story about the April 18 Eagle Rock Resort event, watch the WYLN TV news story at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=619556924795589.
For more information about the Team Sanfilippo Foundation, go to http://teamsanfilippo.org.

HOW TO DONATE:
– The safest way to donate is to mail your donation directly to the foundation at Team Sanfilippo Foundation,  P.O. BOX 144, Saratoga Springs, NY  12866, or donate online at http://teamsanfilippo.org/donate.
– A Facebook donation page surfaced April 21 to collect donations via PayPal specifically for the Kapes family. The link is https://www.facebook.com/2014ColdWaterChallenge. Donate at your own risk.

TAMAQUAAREA.COM’S EDITOR’S NOTE:
No organization has officially endorsed the “24-Hour Cold Water Challenge in Support of Team Sanfilippo Foundation in Honor of the Kapes Brothers”. If you do participate in any cold water challenge, understand that you are doing this at your own risk. Please play safe.

HERE IS A LIST OF SOME LOCAL INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE:
Kelly Boerner, Edward W Boerner, Justin David Startzel, Eric Becker, Tim Stahl, Howard Boyer, Cody Boyer, Brandon Lech, Kyle Oliphant, Mark Williams, Nicolee Dallatore, Norman Thomas, Dean Strohl Jr., Amy Warner Miller, Michael Scott Strohl, Robert Amentler, Kevin Breiner, Tim Lehman, Ronny Ziegler, Adam Frantz, Derek Hill, Jake Beers, David Clemson, Jeremy Pavitt, Milt Drum, Derek Drum, Brian Benny Rabenold, Jodi Nelson Denning, Jereme Denning, Missy Deeter-Drum, Catrina Mehallic, Nyssa Calkins, Melissa Mehallic, Tara Schlorf, Tyler Calkins, James Jackowski, Dylin Turner, Jaide Marie, Tonya Schlorf Warner, Alysa Schappell, Megan Rolko, Meghan Sfarra, Britney Rolko, Faith OBrien, Zeke Wassell, Jr Nortavage, Brandon Rex, Amanda Breiner Ziegler, Angela Cipko Tringone, and so on…

Below are TamaquaArea.com photos and videos of recent challenge participants in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. (FYI: A trained lifeguard was always in the immediate area during these challenges.)

Below are TamaquaArea.com photos of nominees taking to the cold water in Lost Creek (Schuylkill County) PA: