A sweet lady referred me to a page tonight to possibly shed light on the Special Olympics. I thought it was a wonderful idea, and I am honored that she thought of me to share this topic with the world!

This is very close to my heart as I have friends that have special needs children, a few specifically with Down Syndrome.  I have also been friends with another lady for approximately 17 years, and through those years she has shared her struggles and triumphs with having a special needs son.

A lady from our church has a little one with Down Syndrome, and we watched him grow and become active in a ministry opportunity with the young people at our church.  It was such a blessing to see him up there sharing God’s love and participating with the other youth.  I will never forget when the youth were performing a hip hop number to a Christian song.  They had this very special young man do the “worm” at a certain point in the song.  He was so proud and did a GREAT job, too!

One of my friends from high school also has a brother with Down Syndrome.  He’s an adult now, too, but I have such fond memories of this young man in school.  He always had a huge smile on his face and was overflowing with so much love toward others. 

Just thinking about these young people brings tears to my eyes.  They have a very important place in this world and deserve to be celebrated.

With the Winter Olympics currently taking place, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you about the Special Olympics South Carolina.  They have partnered with Firstgiving to help raise awareness and funds via their website which supports over 21,648 Special Olympics South Carolina athletes who need a chance to compete, learn, grow, and inspire.

One of the individuals I mentioned above has participated in this event, and we couldn’t be more proud of him!

On viewing the Special Olympics website, I found that there are two opportunities to support them in their fundraising efforts for the month of February. The first is the 2014 Lake Murray Polar Bear Plunge which is February 15, 2014. The second is the Gamecock Plunge which is February 22, 2014.

To give you some information on The Special Olympics South Carolina, they are a non-profit organization located at 1276 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201 (EIN: 57-0680248). 

The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community.

Their oath:

Let me win; but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.

Please click here to visit the Special Olympics South Carolina for additional information.

Join me in supporting The Special Olympics South Carolina as we celebrate and cheer these very special individuals on!