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Special Olympics Delaware kicks off Polar Bear Plunge

Prior to the meeting Special Olympics staff, athletes and volunteer gathered of a photo. Shown are (l-r) Ann Grunert, executive director; Corinne Plummer, special events manager; Jean Beck, parent and volunteer; David Hill, athlete; and Lisa Smith, director of development. BY STEVEN BILLUPS
Steven Billups
November 22, 2015
Parent and volunteer Jean Beck told the story of her son Matthew. Beck said having a baby with a disability is like planning a trip to Italy, but the plane lands in Holland. Holland is a beautiful place, but just not the place you planned for. Matthew struggled in his young life. With his health turning the corner he began participating in sports and activities with his siblings. But he could not keep up with children his age. Then they found SpecialOlympics. He swims, plays football, runs track and plays basketball. "It is a place where Matthew can be his own man," she said. BY STEVEN BILLUPS
Athlete David Hill is a powerlifter. He participates in seven sports, but his favorite sport is powerlifting. In the 2014 he brought home the gold in power lighfting with a combined squat, bench press and deadlift of 1,500 pounds. Hill has LKS which makes it difficult for him to express his feelings in words. Through Special Olympics  speaking class he gained the skills to speak in public. Hill said "Special Olympics is an important part of my life. Your support is important to Special Olympics so others like me can continue to do great things." BY STEVEN BILLUPS
Community partners (l-r) Joe Zuber from Dos Locos, Yolanda Pineda from Mariachi and Steve Fallon from Gidget's Gadgets go over some details of the weekend festival. BY STEVEN BILLUPS

The Special Olympics Delaware Polar Bear Plunge held a kick off meeting Nov. 6 at the Atlantic Sands Hotel. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Special Olympics staff and its community partners started their planning and learned about the the slight changes for the Polar Plunge Weekend Festival. With the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center closed for construction, many activities will be moved to the Bay Center in Dewey Beach and also to the Rehoboth  Beach Fire Hall.The weekend festival includes a 5K run, a fire and ice ice cream and hot wings party, restaurant chili contest, pooch parade the plunge and after plunge party.

During the meeting speakers highlighted the three aspects of Special Olympics, sport, education and athlete empowerment. Sport is their platform, but sport is not only training and competing, it is the skills learned in sport, how to win and lose, and teamwork helping to make individuals better neighbors, co-workers and friends.

Special Olympics is offered in 95 schools. They have programs in place to understand the challenges that their peers have. They give them the tools to change the cultures in their school to build bridges of acceptance.Tthey also have programs to empower their athletes, because their voices matter. There are currently 3,700 children and adults participating in Special Olympics and over 4,000 volunteers. For every athlete in the program, seven are waiting on the sideline to participate. They have an immediate call to serve 5,000. That means more equipment, facilities and coaches are needed.

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