LAKEWOOD — A chilly fundraiser for Community Helping Hands has been scheduled, thanks to a recent vote by members of the Lakewood Village Board.

On the morning of Jan. 15, 2022, the village of Lakewood beach will play host to its first BMF Polar Plunge. BMF Events is a local organization created by community members, Brad and Adrienne Barmore, to encourage physical fitness, fun and provide funds and material goods to local charities. The event will benefit Community Helping Hands with a coat drive.

Adrienne Barmore said any extra proceeds will benefit a local veteran’s organization.

A concrete time has not yet been set as the event has just been approved. The event will also include giveaways and prizes.

“This is our first year,” she said. “Hopefully, this is the first annual. My husband and I have a group of events that we want to put on annually. We just did a mud run. A few weeks ago where we raised shoes — collected gently used shoes — also for Community Helping Hands. We’re hoping to have seven events a year throughout the year.”

Barmore said she and her husband are “just local community members” looking to give back. Each event they plan through BMF Events has a theme — with the Polar Plunge being “Super Heroes.” The event will include various drawings throughout the event, and Barmore said organizers are attempting to get well-known community leaders involved.

“The main thing is just that we’re trying to raise money locally for our community,” she said. “It’s all based around personal health and fitness, but we tried to make it fun. It’s just raising funds for our community, specifically for different organizations in our community that can give back to people who live here. We have such a great community, and we just want to make sure that every event gives back locally.”

Lakewood Mayor Randy Holcomb said the village is pleased to have the event located within their borders.

“We are very appreciative that they came to the village, and we are very interested in having it, especially because it’s such a worthy cause,” Holcomb said. “Being a fundraiser for Community Helping Hands and a coat drive, we were all unanimous in that when we voted on it and we were very happy to do it.”

The event as well as the group BMF Events can be found on Facebook under “BMF Events.” According to Barmore, the group is private, but no one has ever been turned away. By joining the group, users can check on upcoming events and receive further information regarding other events and happenings.