Mendota Heights Business to Dip 45 Employees in Ice Water for Special Olympics

Restaurant Technologies, Inc., a Mendota Heights-based food services company, is refrigerating 45 of its employees this Saturday—for a good cause.

For the fifth year in a row, RTI will be participating in the Polar Bear Plunge at Burnsville's Crystal Lake to benefit Special Olympics.

RTI has raised a total of $55,000 for the Special Olympics and is hoping to raise $40,000 more on Saturday.

In 2012, 940 people participated in the plunge, including a "Cops and Bobbers" team from the Mendota Heights Police Department participated in the plunge

Event coordinator Megan Lewis told Patch that the south metro plunge, one of 18 such events across Minnesota, raised $200,000 for the Special Olympics.

The plunge begins at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Crystal Beach (1100 Crystal Lake Road East).

RTI's CEO will also participate in the first ever Executive Plunge on March 1 in which executives will "loosen their ties, toss their suit jackets and take an icy dip into Lake Calhoun," according to the company.

RTI has more about the Polar Plunge's history in a press release:

The first Polar Bear Plunge took place at Como Lake in St. Paul. Since then, the Plunge has expanded to 16 locations across Minnesota, growing exponentially more successful each year. Polar Bear Plunge events are organized by Minnesota law enforcement as part of the Law Enforcement Torch Run® (LETR), the largest grassroots fundraiser and public awareness vehicle for Special Olympics in the world. In 2012, the LETR raised $3.1 million to benefit Special Olympics Minnesota.