Hundreds of people from across Southern Ontario gathered in Oakville today to kick off the new year with a polar bear plunge, and it’s all for a good cause.

The 39th annual Courage Polar Bear Dip for world vision returned to Coronation Park in Oakville with a splash!

It featured music, a costume competition, and the main event itself– the polar bear dip.

Co-founder Gaye Courage says it all started when her boys came home from university.

“They had loads of friends and they were very lethargic, so I told them to get off the chesterfield and go in the water, and they did, we all did. And we thought it was amazing… and we thought, we can do this to help other people and also have fun,” Courage said.

“It grew quickly because it’s so much fun and it’s for an amazing cause.”

Courage and World Vision have raised almost $2.3 million since they established their partnership 29 years ago.

The organizers say this year’s funds will go towards World Vision projects in Ethiopia and Zambia.

“We got people from all over… all over the G.T.A. and people who travel in… we’ve had people come from Florida, Jamaica, Australia, from all over the world come to this event,” Co-founder, Trent Courage said

The organizers said the event had a great turnout, with more than 800 people participating and $110,000 raised and counting.

The organization is still accepting donations online at polarbeardip.ca.