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19 Friday , D ecem ber 3, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m LivingOakville Beaver LIVING EDITOR: ANGELA BLACKBURN Phone: 905-337-5560 Fax: 905-337-5571 e-mail: ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF While you may be freezing cold on theoutside, the good you help makehappen can make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Its almost time to dip again. Are you up to the challenge of braving the icy waters of Lake Ontario to bring precious water to the sun-soaked Tanzania? The 26th annual Courage Brothers' Polar Bear Dip for World Vision is aiming to raise $100,000 in this years edition of the water-for- water event on New Years Day. In what grew from a lark a challenge issued by a mom to her two sons to get off the couch and do something to one that puts Coronation Park in the Canadian limelight every Jan. 1, the annual polar bear dip drew more than 620 dippers to start this year, and hopes to draw more to begin 2011. After a quarter of a century, the dip has become a New Years tradition in town. Beyond the fun of it, the dip has also raised more than $500,000 to bring fresh, clean water to communities in Africa and Asia. In these communities, it may be hot, hot, hot, but clean water is tough to find. People, usually children, walk miles in huge, long lines that span the countryside, to lug a jug of water home. They use cooking oil jugs to bring home water for drinking, cooking and cleaning water that is usually contaminated with dis- eases and parasites. The Courage brothers know as last year, they travelled to Rwanda to see for themselves, the Polar Bear Dip funds in action. The yellow jugs and the long lines of people, kids, bearing them was the predominant image they brought home. They saw despair, disease and death, but they also saw the dip funds in action, hope in the heart of villagers and smiles they wont soon forget on childrens faces. Now a year after returning from that trip, the brothers are preparing to fundraise for a project in Tanzania. The images are still fresh in their mind, said Trent Courage, who works with his brother, Todd, Courage Brothers Distributing, to host the event. While the $60,000 goal of last years dip was surpassed in the $200,000 it raised, those funds Its time to brave the polar bear dip WATER FOR WATER: At left, the Courage Brothers Polar Bear Dip for World Vision celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and raised more than $200,000. This year, at right, from left, Todd and Trent Courage, accepted $12,000 raised through golf tournaments from sponsor Tin Cup co-owner John Stratigeas to kick start the 2011 edition of the water-for-water fundraiser that supports World Vision water projects in Africa. Dippers plunge into the icy waters of Lake Ontario to kickstart their own new year. ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER See It page 20