by The JBA Young Lawyers Section President-elect Michael Orr
The Young Lawyers Section regularly provides support to Special Olympics Florida, Duval County, and is presently looking for volunteers among members of the legal community.
Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for people 8 years of age and older with intellectual disabilities.
Through the resources provided by Special Olympics, athletes may participate in a variety of programs, giving them ongoing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage and experience joy.
The resources also give athletes the chance to share their gifts and friendship with families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.
Competitions are held throughout the year in Duval County. These competitions all lead to the largest event of the year, the preliminary rounds of the Special Olympics Summer Games.
The County Games and Area Games will occur sometime in February/March 2012.
The Young Lawyers Section will disseminate information through Facebook and its email contact list in order to enlist volunteers.
Beyond standard volunteerism, Special Olympics offers opportunities to serve as coaches, support staff and educators.
Without coaches, support staff and educators, potential athletes are left on the sidelines and the normal volunteering we engage in at events would not occur.
There is no requirement that anyone have the ability to play sports in order to coach (for instance, Dan Bean can help coach). Anyone interested will be provided all the information and training necessary — all it will cost is a small amount of time.
In addition to numerous volunteer opportunities, there are many other ways to support Special Olympics.
The next big opportunity is a fundraising and social networking event — “Wine Down with Special Olympics.” This event will be held at the Deerwood Country Club from 6-9 p.m. Sept.15.
Individual tickets are $50 in advance or $60 at the door. If someone would like to sponsor an athlete for competition, the amount is $200.
There are numerous levels of sponsorship and other opportunities for involvement.
Those interested in obtaining more information or attending events should visit www.soflduval.org. The detailed event information is at the bottom of the website.
Special Olympics is based on the belief that through sports training and competition, people with intellectual disabilities benefit physically, mentally, socially and spiritually; families are strengthened; and the community as a whole is united in understanding people with intellectual disabilities in an environment of equality, respect and acceptance.
Members of the legal community are particularly blessed and their involvement has led to many successes for Special Olympics.
We hope you will join the Young Lawyers Section in using that gift to support our friends at Special Olympics.
Special Olympics formed in 1969 in Duval County. Since its founding, Special Olympics thrived because of the constant patronage of our community.
For more information, please contact the executive director for Special Olympics Florida, Duval County, Donica Hayes at [email protected] or Michael Orr at [email protected].