Take a refreshing dip into Bristol Harbor this weekend to help kids with life-threatening illnesses live their dreams.

The 6th annual East Bay Icebreakers Polar Plunge is scheduled for 11 a.m. on New Year’s Day at Bristol Town Beach on Asylum Road. Those willing to dare the cold will be warmed by the knowledge their chilly run into the frigid water is helping support Children’s Wishes of Rhode Island.

“We’ve been supporting them with the plunge for the last six years,” said organizer Scott Magilton, who noted donations are encouraged by not required. “I’d like to say $10 a person, but people can give whatever they want. There’s no registration or anything like that It’s a free event.”

A couple hundred people turned out for last year’s event, with about 70 or so actually taking the plunge. This year, Mr. Magilton is hoping for a bigger turnout to help collect more money in the milk jug that will be positioned at the beach for Children’s Wishes.

Mr. Magilton stressed that the plunge begins at 11 a.m. this year, not noon as it has in year’s past. “We just wanted to do it a bit earlier to keep everyone’s day moving along,” he said.

Children’s Wishes was formed in 2009 to grant wishes to Rhode Island children between the ages of 2-1/2 and 18 who are facing life-threatening, malignant or degenerative medical conditions, according to the charity’s website. 

“Children’s Wishes strives to make sure that each child who qualifies for a Wish is able to experience the joy of having their Wish come true,” the group’s mission statement reads. “In partnership with other children’s wish granting organizations, Children’s Wishes works cooperatively to make sure that the needs of all RI children qualifying for a wish are met.”