Overlake Terrace surpasses fundraising goal for breast cancer research

On Friday morning, David Standring will take a polar plunge at Idylwood Beach Park at 3650 West Lake Sammamish Pkwy N.E. in Redmond -- all in the name of curing breast cancer.

On Friday morning, David Standring will take a polar plunge at Idylwood Beach Park at 3650 West Lake Sammamish Pkwy N.E. in Redmond — all in the name of curing breast cancer.

Standring’s dip in the water, which will be at 11 a.m., comes after he and his team at Overlake Terrace Assisted Living and Independent Living in Redmond, “Ann’s Hair Razors @ Overlake Terrace 2011,” raised more than $2,300 for the “Passionately Pink for the Cure” program — surpassing its goal of raising $2,000.

Passionately Pink is a fundraising opportunity for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation dedicated to funding breast cancer research and educational programs in local communities.

This is the third year Standring, personal preferences coordinator at Overlake Terrace, has participated in the program. He first became involved after his sister Ann died of breast cancer on 2007 at age 47.

“Each year I have been truly amazed by the wonderful support in donations and well wishes of all I have shared my idea with,” Standring said. “I was hoping that we would reach our goal (this year), but with the current economic climate I was not sure how well we would do. It always makes me feel very lucky to have the support of kind people both within my family and work life, but of course it is for a very worthwhile cause.”

In addition to fundraising, Overlake Terrace, located at  2956 152nd Ave. N.E., has held an annual Shave-a-Thon event where people shave their heads to show their support for breast cancer research. This year’s event will be Friday at 2 p.m. and Standring said seven people will lose their hair for the cause.

To help his team reach their fundraising goal, Standring set mini goals at specific dollar amounts: If they reached $1,000, Standring said he would dye his hair pink for the week leading up to the shave-a-thon; if they reached $1,500, Standring would dress as a lady and if they reached $1,800, he said he would take a “polar bear” plunge into one of the local lakes.

And with the team reaching and beating their goals, Standring has remained true to his word (right).

“I’m sure my sister would think I have become a little crazy,” he said. “But I think she’d also smile.”