Colorado lake plunge broke new record to help support children with special needs

Many Coloradans spent their New Year's Day making a difference and found a pretty chilly way to do it. More than 400 Coloradans plunged into Evergreen Lake to help raise money to support children with special needs.

For the first time ever, this event broke a new record to help Active for All Evergreen Foundation. Over 400 people plunged Monday morning and helped raise more than $30,000.

CBS News Colorado spoke with one plunger who tells us this dive into the cold and frozen lake helped her conquer her fears for a great cause.

"I got to do something I think is really hard for me and I get to help people that are going through really hard stuff. It's awesome. I'm super happy."

The water in the lake was in the upper 30s. This was definitely a jolt in the New Year for many plungers.

"I'm awake now," Evan Berbarta said. "That's for sure."

Men, women and children took the ultimate plunge Monday morning. Many were wearing costumes including a group of walruses and a butterfly. 

CBS Colorado Traffic Reporter Brian Sherrod even tried to convince Evergreen Lake Plunge Host Alan Gionet -- who's also a CBS News Colorado reporter -- to jump in.

"Yeah! I don't do that," Gionet said. It's freaking cold in there man."

Once everyone made the big jump, Evergreen Lake turned into a great place to go ice skating.