LEWISTON — Lewiston High School student Travis Maier is hoping for mild weather Friday.
He’s starting 2016 by being among dozens of brave souls plunging into the ocean at noon at Old Orchard Beach — the water temperature is in the 40s — to raise money for the Special Olympics.
A Special Olympics athlete himself, Maier this year is also among the top individual fundraisers for the 28th annual Lobster Dip, according to Lisa Bird of Special Olympics Maine.
Maier, 18, sought support from friends, family and his Lewiston High School community through his fundraising webpage by announcing he’ll be among the Lobster Dip jumpers on Jan. 1 for the third year in a row.
“It’s a lot of fun, but I need your help to raise at least $1,000,” Maier said. “Please help. No donation is too small.”
Trying to outdo himself, this year he plans to “double dip,” or jump into the ocean twice.
Another goal was to raise more money. In 2014 he raised $350, in 2015 he raised $600. So far this year he’s raised $1,120.
While some wear costumes while jumping in the ocean, Travis will wear his swim trunks.
“Between the sand and water, the less you wear the easier it is,” said his father, Andy Maier, of Lewiston. “When you come out of the water, you’re just as cold. You’re wet and the air is cold. We towel him down and warm him up.”
He jumps “as his way of paying back,” Maier said.
The first year he went swimming in January he was with a group of students who called themselves “The Lewiston Snow Devils.”
“It was a bit cold,” his father said. Some weren’t interested in doing it again. “Travis kept going.”
The teen is motivated by the fact that it helps others. Getting involved helps him make friends and feel apart of something big, his father said.
Travis has intellectual and learning disabilities, and finds meeting people for the first time challenging, his father said. Despite that, “he’s very cheerful, giving and passionate.” He volunteers in different ways to help others, and “he loves sports,” his father said.
Travis played soccer when he was younger, “but hasn’t been big into team sports because of his disability,” his father said.
That has changed because of unified basketball, a new program that started last year. It combines student athletes with special-need athletes on the same teams.
“Other states have been doing it for a while, but Project Unify is a new thing for Maine,” Andy Maier said. “They have tryouts at the beginning of the year. They use regular rules and have referees.”
Travis’ Lewiston High team competes against numerous teams, including Hampden, Oak Hill, Lisbon and Brunswick.
In addition to playing unified basketball, Travis helped spread the word about Project Unify opportunities for others, representing Maine at the national level by attending two Project Unity conferences.
During the annual summer Special Olympics games at Bates College in Lewiston and the University of Maine at Orono, Travis does the 150-yard dash and throws the shot put.
“He loves being part of the Lewiston Special Olympics team,” Lisa Bird said. In addition to the competition, “he loves staying in the dorms, eating in the college cafeteria and having fun with his friends.”
The New Year’s Day Lobster Dip, held on the beach in front of the Brunswick Hotel, attracts a crowd and among them will be quite a few of Travis’ relatives.
“It’s a family event,” Andy Maier said. This year his cheering section will include his father, his stepmother, his mother, who is traveling from North Carolina for the event, plus grandparents, aunts and uncles.
“It’s nice and satisfying for him to do this,” his father said. “I’m very much proud of him.”
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