by KYW's Karin Phillips

The First Annual Philadelphia Polar Bear Plunge will be held on Sunday to raise funds to fight Alzheimer's.  

Estelle Citrenbaum was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2002. So her daughter, Barbara Perkins, and her son, Dan Citrenbaum, wanted to do something to help:

"We wanted to come up with a different and creative idea."

Like, Dan adds, stopping Alzheimer's cold, with a winter plunge into the Schuylkill River behind Lloyd Hall on Boathouse Row. Barbara Perkins hopes over 1,000 people will take the plunge:

"We all feel pretty helpless in the face of this disease. And this is just something that we can do. It's not going to cure Alzheimer's but it's what we can do."

Registration is Sunday at 9am with the official plunge scheduled for 10:30am.

For more info, call Barbara at 610-566-5366. 


(Photo: taken by KYW's John Ostapkovich)