WASHINGTON (DC News Now) -- The Special Olympics already hosts a polar plunge every February. Now it has another one. On Saturday, invited guests took a quick dip in the cool, 49-degree water at the Omni Shoreham Hotel as it conducted its inaugural event. "We host their annual gala and fundrai ser, and we couldn't think of a better partner to, create a donation to," said Lane Hartley, the hotel's director of sales and marketing. Special Olympics Washington works with more than 2,500 athletes around the District with year-round activities. These 3 Virginia laws will be going into effect on July 1 "All our programs are free for all the participants, so we don't charge a penny for any of the programming that we do throughout the year," said Marianelly Johnson, the organization's director of finance and administration. Yards Park is the site of the annual polar plunge when the water is colder. Organizers made sure the Shoreham's pool would also be cooler, as those who took the plunge donated money to Special Olympics. "That's cold," said Nick Sadoski as he took the plunge with his family. Hotel management promised things would heat up when the pool officially opened to guests on April 1, with the water a comfortable 80 degrees. ...read more read less