UPDATE, Mar. 4:  The date for the Swamp Romp has been postponed to Friday, Mar. 13, due to the snow and weather-related reasons.

Brrrrrrr! With below-zero temperatures the norm these days, who could imagine jumping into the Wilton Family YMCA pond?

Many of the Y staffers will not only be imagining  it, they’ll be doing it, next Friday, Mar. 6, at the Wilton Y “Swamp Romp,” all in the name of helping to raise money to support the Wilton Y’s Annual Campaign.

“I know, I know…” sighs Aaron Britton, the Y’s camp director, who oversees and organizes the event. But if you know Aaron, you’ll know that he’s characteristically upbeat about the prospect of freezing his tuchus off.

“It’s actually really fun. The idea stemmed from the Special Olympics Penguin Plunge, which we as an organization have participated in many years ago, and I still do participate in. That money does come back to the Wilton Special Olympics [program]. So we said, it would be neat to do something like that here, to help families that the Wilton Y can help,” Britton explains.

He’s not the only one who is enthusiastic about taking the plunge. Staffers from every department do their part, including the Y’s executive director Bob McDowell.

“This is grass roots. I’ve got high school students who work after school life-guarding, giving a dollar here, a dollar there. A lot of the young staff, the part-time staff, they’re getting friends and family to give $5 here, $10 there, to donate to the Y’s Annual Giving Campaign which is for financial assistance and camper scholarships,” Britton adds. “It’s a real organizational effort–our maintenance staff has been using the backhoe to clear the snow, figuring out how to cut the ice. Each department is raising money. We’re all out there for a great cause. It’s our small part.”

Grass roots really pay off. Last year, the Swamp Romp brought in $17,000. That’s a lot of one dollars here and there. Britton has a modest goal of $10,000 for this year, but something tells me he’s hoping to beat last year’s tally.

“We’re on our way. We’re at about $3,000 now, but this last push is where the money really comes in,” Britton says.

The Y staff started the Swamp Romp in 2010, and except for one year off when the pond flooded in 2011, they’ve repeated it every year since. Not knowing what the weather will be like, Britton says they’ll almost surely proceed this year.

“The water is the one constant–it isn’t going to be colder than 32-degrees, which is what it was last year. It’s the air temperature that will really dictate how we manage that. If it’s too cold to really enjoy the event, we may think about postponing a week. But we’ve checked out the Farmer’s Almanac, which says 41- to 45-degrees, which is much, much more tolerable. This weather today is too dangerous,” he says.

Speaking of safety, the Y always has the Wilton Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the Dive Team on hand.

Britton says it helps to also have a lot of spectators on hand to cheer them on.

“We’re not out there that long–we start at 3:45 p.m. and we’re there until 4:30, 4:45 p.m. at max. It’s a lot of fun. The after school program has a lot of staff doing the jump, so the kids will be out there watching. We usually get a good turnout.”

To donate to the Swamp Romp, visit the Wilton Family Y’s website.