When 84-year-old humanitarian Frances Jeffries takes her seventh polar plunge into the icy Atlantic Ocean in Massachusetts on New Year’s Day, there will once again be a global ripple effect. That’s because the Rotary Club of the Bridgewaters member takes the chilly dip to raise money and awareness for the international relief charity ShelterBox USA, which specializes in delivering vital supplies, including sturdy tents.

“At that moment when you reach the water, you want to suspend any notion of the temperature because it’s irrelevant to what you are doing,” says Jeffries. “No one else is asking whether it’s 40 or 42 degrees. It’s a great life lesson, because so much of what we focus on is irrelevant.”

What’s relevant and important to the longtime Rotarian is building peace and supporting ShelterBox USA, especially with displaced women.

“When women do not have shelter, they are very likely to be raped or even killed,” Jeffries points out. “The minute a woman and her family can get into their shelter, the threat of violence against women is reduced dramatically. Your donation can keep a woman alive and protect her from severe abuse. Just help us by buying these shelters.”

If Jeffries sounds like an unusually articulate expert on relief and global issues, it’s because, frankly, she is an expert and holds a Ph.D. in Counseling from Kent State University.

At age 75, she trekked to Bangkok for three months to become a Rotary Peace Fellow at prestigious Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.

“We studied everything about peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and conflict prevention,” says Jeffries, who was the oldest person in her class. “Everything from personal peace to what you do with ceasefires and treaties, dealing with war, family disputes. We were in class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It was very intense—not bad, but intense.”

A couple of years later, Jeffries began her plunge for peace, focusing on ShelterBox but also supporting other charities. Her first plunge happened in 2019 in South Boston.

“I really didn’t know what I was doing,” Jeffries recalls. “But standing next to a 100-year-old bathhouse, I side-eyed a woman with a heavy Irish accent. She told me, ‘Love, it’s just a spiritual baptism.’ She also told me, ‘You don’t want to go to the middle of the pack, they run faster than we can. Go to the side.’ She grabbed my hand, and I ran in.”

And the rest, in a way, is history. The spirited plunge has since moved to Onset Beach, in what Jeffries describes as a fishing village. Jeffries says up to 10 people observe the plunge, while five to eight “get wet.”

Last year, the plunge raised $5,000 for ShelterBox alone, according to Jeffries.

Jeffries easily weaves levity and seriousness in conversation, a skill that served her well at Bridgewater State University, where she directed the school’s office of grants and sponsored projects.

As New Year’s Day approaches, the plight of displaced Syrians and ShelterBox tents are at the top of Jeffries’ mind.

“It’s not a tent you put in your backyard and take down Monday morning,” says Jeffries. “You could be there for years. Particularly in Syria, where you can’t go forward or backward. Someone might say, ‘Well, these people are criminals.’ Believe me, people in a ShelterBox camp are not criminals; the criminals are on the move.”

We can all watch thoughtful Frances do her great deed in a bathing suit on New Year’s Day, as the Rotary Club of the Bridgewaters will live-stream her plunge on its Facebook page at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, 6 a.m. Pacific.