'Naked and Afraid' star faces different fear to raise money, awareness

On March 11 people will gather at Libby Creek bridge on Farm to Market Road to raise awareness and money for patients and survivors of breast cancer, with some of them taking the frigid plunge as well.

The entire community is invited to show up at 1 p.m., whether they take part in the plunge or not, said organizer Amber Hargrove. The plunge itself is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Hargrove will even have a bonfire with hot chocolate and coffee courtesy of Camp Creek Coffee to help attendees stay warm.

To add to the fun — and in the spirit of Libby’s own Rick “Polar Bear Rick” Klin who takes his dip in Libby Creek every winter Sunday — Hargrove has asked anyone how attends to come up with a fun costume.

Hargrove said she is still working on what she will wear, but has considered coming as a character from Duck Dynasty.

A former “Naked and Afraid” star and twice-deployed Army veteran, Hargrove is no stranger to tough challenges. Yet, she admitted she still dreads jumping into a frigid creek.

Despite having spent 40 days surviving the Amazon and enjoying all variety of extreme and survivalist outdoor recreation, she is no fan of being cold on purpose, she said. But when she decided to do something to raise money to support breast cancer victims, she wanted to do something that would be a challenge.

“This is nothing compared to what men and women go through from breast cancer,” she said.

Making connection

Hargrove said the fundraiser idea started when she was approached by Gillian Anderson, president and founder of Reality Rally.

Reality Rally is an entirely volunteer-run annual fundraiser that tasks individual reality TV stars to go into their communities and raise awareness and money for Michelle’s Place Breast Cancer Resource Center. In 2017, the event raised $87,000 from 16 countries around the world, Anderson said.

Anderson said she approached Hargrove because she felt Hargrove had the right heart for the project.

“I can’t wait to see what she does,” Anderson said. “It’s going to be awesome.”

Hargrove said the first thing that came to mind when Anderson approached her was her aunt, Becky Mitchell.

Three years ago, Mitchell was diagnosed with breast cancer. Though both describe their relationship as close, Hargrove was not aware of what Mitchell was going through at first.

When Hargrove asked her aunt about it, she said she didn’t want to be a burden to people.

“I’m not one who asks people for help on things,” Mitchell said.

On top of that, asking for help would make it feel like things were even worse, she said. It wasn’t until she was looking at her lab work and read “stage 3” on the paperwork — cancer is characterized as stage 1 through 4 — that it completely sunk in how serious her situation was.

If not for her doctor giving her a list of places that offer assistance, Mitchell would not have been aware of most of what was out there, she said. There wasn’t really any kind of central information clearinghouse she could go to for more.

That is part of the reason she still keeps her own collection of information for cancer patients, and sends it out to anyone she finds out has been diagnosed, she said. Everyone she has sent that information to has told her it was the first they had heard of many of the resources.

Yet, awareness isn’t just about patients being aware help is available, Mitchell said. For someone going through cancer, one of the things they may need most is for someone to reach out to them and offer help, whether they ask for it or not.

After hearing her aunt’s story, Hargrove said she wanted to do something to help others in her situation. She saw that opportunity in the Reality Rally.

The Plunge

Hargrove went out Feb. 25 to watch Klin take his weekly dip into Libby Creek. Anticipating her own plunge only a couple weeks off, she felt a mixture of emotions.

“You know, it looks like so much fun, but it looks like a nightmare at the same time,” Hargrove said. “So, I’m incredibly excited to do it, but whoa, my stomach’s really shakin’.”

Yet, it’s still nothing compared to the cause behind the event, she said.

When coming up with the fundraiser, Hargrove wanted something that would raise money and challenge her, but also provide a chance for the community to come together and be a part of it.

Hargrove said she thought of the stories she had heard about Klin and his cold water revelries.

“I was so intrigued by it,” she said. “This is just one of my fears I want to overcome.”

Ever since she found out about her aunt’s fight with cancer, Hargrove has tried to donate to any fundraiser she has encountered.

“To actually be a part of one is an honor,” she said. “I’m really excited to jump on this bandwagon.”

Mitchell was excited too, and immediately made an online donation to Reality Rally under her niece’s name when she found out.

“She didn’t want it, and I said ‘Are you kidding me?’” Mitchell said. As a survivor, Mitchell said she simply gave what she could afford, which is what she always does.

“Sometimes I have a bit more, and when I can, I give more,” she said.

Mitchell said that since she is self-employed as a hairdresser, she is still grateful for the organizations that were there to help her when she had to take off from running her business to receive treatment. She just wants to give back.

Going out into the local community to talk to people about the Polar Bear Plunge Breast Cancer Fundraiser, Hargrove said she has been touched by her conversations with survivors and people whose lives have been affected by cancer.

“Even when I was at Rosauers giving out brownies, I was hugging people,” she said. “You can just see what they go through in their eyes when you just mention it to them.”

Hargrove has also been impressed by the response she has seen generally.

“The community’s great,” she said. “They’re embracing it, they’re interactive, and that’s why I thought, ‘why not put Libby on the map for this?’” she said.

Hargrove and her daughter, Leila Spencer, and daughter’s friend, Raven Wood, have been selling raffle tickets for the event Saturdays at Rosauers grocery between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets are also available at Klin’s Tech Appliance and TV Repair on California Avenue.

The Raffle prizes are an Osprey knife, an Ugly Stick fishing pole and a $50 gift card. Tickets are $2.

Raffle tickets will also be sold at the event on March 11 starting at 1 p.m., with the giveaway at 1:45 p.m.

There will be a donation bucket at the event as well.

You can see fundraising so far and donate under Hargrove at realityrally.com/reality-stars-teams/reality-stars/reality-star-fundraising-totals.

More information about Michelle’s Place can be found at michellesplace.org.