Wisconsin Rapids man raises money the polite way

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (WSAW) - All it takes is a simple greeting and for Cole Cleworth it’s turned into $30,000 in six years for the Special Olympics.

“Hi, my name is Cole. Will you make a donation,” Cole says when he approaches people at restaurants and bars.

For Cole Cleworth—he doesn’t need a fancy sales pitch.

“He’s outgoing, and he’s very social,” his mom Debi Cleworth said.

It goes back to 6-years ago, when Cole decided to do his first polar plunge.

It was a shocker because you jump in there, we were like. We did a post jump video, should we do it again next year—nope, I don’t think so,” Debi Cleworth explained.

That was hardly the first time. He raised 2,000 that year, but last year, it was nearly 10,000.

“That feels great,” Cole says with a smile.

“It’s mind-blowing. Like I said, you get kind of emotional because like I said, he truly has done so much of that on his own,” Debi says while holding back tears.

A lot of the money is for Cole’s athletes—who he coaches and mentors.

“I help them do their sports and I help them do well," Cole explained.

He’s appreciative of every dime, and takes that into his polar plunges where his fans give the love back.

He shows off his cannon ball, because as his mom says.

“It’s not what we can’t do, it’s what we can do.”

He is currently raising money for the Special Olympics Wisconsin Virtual Run Series. To donate, you can go to his donation page.

Copyright 2020 WSAW. All rights reserved.