Summary: More than 450 athletes with special needs will be at Calvin College on Saturday, May 1, 2010, for the Special Olympics Southwest Regional Spring Games.
On Saturday, May 1, 2010, more than 450 athletes with special needs will compete in the Southwest Regional Spring Games held at Calvin College. Opening ceremonies will begin at 8:45 a.m. at the Calvin College outdoor track, with the games to begin at 9:45 a.m.
For more than 25 years, Calvin College has hosted the Special Olympics event. Athletes compete in bocce ball, shot put, sprinting, long distance runs, aquatics, long jump and the pentathalon.
About 220 Calvin students have volunteered to be chaperones for the event. Each chaperone is paired with 2-3 special needs athletes. The chaperones lead the athletes through opening ceremonies, to lunch, to award ceremonies and to their various athletic events.
Calvin sophomore Scott Burden is one of the chaperones this year. Besides being a special education major, he also has a sister who is blind and has mobility issues as a result of multiple sclerosis. Burden said he provided assistance for his sister growing up and through that developed a passion for helping people with special needs. He's hoping to help out in some small way on Saturday.
"I'm expecting to get a lot more than I'm giving. Just in my interactions with students that have special needs, the love they have for each other is like what Christ has for us," said Burden.
About 100 volunteers from Amway will help run the events. The Spring Games are co-sponsored by Amway and Sam's Club.
For more info, contact Jaime Gunderson with Special Olympics Michigan at 616-890-4751 or Kelly DeVries with Calvin's Service-Learning Center at 616-828-3781.
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Received on Fri Apr 30 14:06:52 2010
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