Details for many Paint the Town Pink events are coming together ahead of the fundraising to kick off in January and last into February.

The fourth annual Plunging for Pink polar plunge returns Jan. 30 at Austin’s East Side Lake. Attracting nearly 250 plungers last year, Plunging for Pink’s website — www.plungingforpink.com — has been updated and is ready for signups. This year’s post-plunge festivities will be at the Austin VFW Club with live music. In 2015, Plunging for Pink was the top PTTP fundraiser, raising nearly $59,000.

Tickets remain available for the sixth annual Austin Bruins’ Paint the Rink Pink hockey game set for Feb. 6 vs. the Coulee Region Chill at Riverside Arena. Every PTRP game has been a sellout crowd of nearly 2,000 since it started in 2011, and the Bruins have raised more than $152,000 in five years through the PTRP game and its popular post-game pink jersey auction.

A long-time fundraiser for The Hormel Institute also will return in support of the PTTP initiative with new organizers. The Fishing for a Cure ice fishing contest is set for 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 13 at Austin’s East Side Lake, with Austin couple Glenn and Babs Newman leading the event.

Long-time organizers Jim Nelson and Duane Smith wanted to pass the contest on to new leaders.

The 2015 Paint the Town Pink raised about $191,000 overall in Austin and nearby communities, including Adams, Brownsdale and Rose Creek. All the funds go directly into cutting-edge breast cancer research projects at The Hormel Institute. That overall fundraising amount put Paint the Town Pink at nearly $554,000 raised over five years for breast cancer research at The Hormel Institute.

This year’s Paint the Town Pink ambassadors are Kelly Joseph and Darci Buchan — two Austin women who are friends and each personally affected by breast cancer. Joseph was diagnosed in July 2013 and now is cancer free. Buchan was diagnosed in February 2014 and is undergoing treatments.

For all details on PTTP events, go online to The Hormel Institute’s website — www.hi.umn.edu — and click on the PTTP link at the top or go to Paint the Town Pink’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/austinpttp.

Funds raised in 2011 and 2012 through PTTP went toward acquiring technology to accelerate breast cancer research. Donations the past three years have been distributed as “seed” grants through an application process open only to researchers at The Hormel Institute for new breast cancer projects. These funds greatly help researchers try out new ideas and gather preliminary data to assist them in applying for major research grants.

Breast cancer, which predominantly affects women but also is diagnosed in men in about 2,000 new cases annually — is the most common type of cancer in the United States when excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers and the second-leading cause of death by cancer, with more than 40,000 deaths estimated per year.

Anyone who has ideas or is interested in participating in the 2016 PTTP is encouraged to contact Kathi Finley at 507-460-0259 or by email at GoPTTP@gmail.com.