Annual event raises money for Friends of Hunting Island
By Mike McCombs
Friends of Hunting Island’s 13th annual Pelican Plunge has a shot to be the most successful yet.
The last Pelican Plunge was the biggest so far. The New Year’s Day 2022 event saw more than 500 people rumble down the Hunting Island beach and into the water and raised close to $5,000 for the Friends of Hunting Island (FOHI).
FOHI President Linda Miller is confident the 2023 event, set for 1 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 1, will approach last year’s success.
“(Last year) was a banner year, post-Covid, and our numbers are running on pace at the moment for a similar turnout,” Miller told The Island News while traveling Tuesday. “Weather is always a factor for last-minute bookings, and temperatures are looking pretty good; especially after the cold freeze of Christmas!”
Miller said there’s a slight chance of rain on the radar.
“We are following it closely,” she said.
The Pelican Plunge was canceled in 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The postponement has not derailed the event’s growth.
The 2022 event had about 50 more participants than the 2020 event, and was twice as big as 2019.
Miller said registrations for this week’s event have been steady, but that things tend to pick up in the last few days before the Plunge. According to Miller, one person paid for 16 people on Christmas Eve.
This year, those looking for lunch before or after the Plunge will have access to food trucks – Gullah Express, Sabor de Casa and Mother Smoking Good.
Souvenir T-shirts will be available, and of course, the usual costume contest guarantees that some plungers will wear their craziest outfits.
“Our goals are always satisfied by sharing the joy of this event,” Miller said “Our costume parade grows significantly each year and has become a ‘thing’ with so many repeat plungers. The T-shirts are collectibles, and we are excited by our 2023 colors and design.”
All proceeds benefit Friends of Hunting Island in the group’s work to support Hunting Island State Park. Miller said the fundraiser isn’t a large one, but it’s the only one FOHI holds each year, “and it has become a Beaufort fan favorite for all ages. Day trippers swarm in for it from as far away as North Carolina and Georgia.”
The New Year’s Day event is traditionally the last day a Friends of Hunting Island membership for the previous year can get you into the park. The Plunge is the perfect time for current members to renew and new members to join. New members will receive free entry to the Park for 2023.
Miller said the Plunge generally increases the membership around 10 percent each year.
“This year we are offering pre-membership sign-up in advance, so (new members’) entrance fee (to the park) will be taken care of …,” Miller said.
Membership, which costs $60 a year, also offers people the opportunity to select a volunteer category at sign up. Core categories include Lighthouse, Environmental conservation care projects, construction crew projects, sand dune fencing and special building projects, events and the new Shorebird Stewardship Program in conjunction with Audubon South Carolina.
The Hunting Island Nature Center will be renovated in 2023, and this fundraiser will directly impact those efforts. And of course, members can volunteer for the sea turtle program, counting nests and hatchlings.
For those interested in joining Friends of Hunting Island or learning about its sea turtle program, visit the website at https://www.friendsofhuntingisland.org/.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
