Spread the Word to End the Word is an ongoing effort by Special Olympics, Best Buddies and our supporters to inspire respect and acceptance through raising the consciousness of society about the R-word – ‘retard(ed)’ – and how hurtful words and disrespect can be toward people with intellectual disabilities. Spread the Word to End the Word was founded by college students Soeren Palumbo (Notre Dame 2011) and Tim Shriver (Yale 2011) in 2009, and continues to be led by passionate young people, along with Special Olympics athletes and Best Buddies participants across the United States and in many other parts of the world.
The campaign, created by youth, is intended to engage schools, organizations and communities to rally and pledge their support at www.r-word.org and to promote the inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The annual day of awareness is held the first Wednesday of every March. While most activities are centered on or near that annual day in March, people everywhere can help spread the word throughout their communities and schools year-round thru pledge drives, youth rallies and online activation.
Respectful and inclusive language is essential to the movement for the dignity and humanity of people with intellectual disabilities. However, much of society does not recognize the hurtful, dehumanizing and exclusive effects of the R-word.Language affects attitudes. Attitudes impact actions. To make your pledge and learn how you can Spread the Word to End the Word and start #Respect today, visit www.R-word.org.
Special Olympics PA is pleased that many of its Interscholastic Unified Sports programs will be helping to “Spread the Word” at their schools on various dates in March! #PlayUnified
Philadelphia
Allegheny County
Centre County
Shop Amazon, Support Special Olympics! Amazon launched an initiative called Amazon Smile. This initiative allows you to support your favorite charity with every purchase online! Just in time for the holidays – check it out today and support Special Olympics PA athletes all year long! AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization. You can choose from nearly one million organizations to support.
EVERY purchase that you make will result in 0.5% of that purchase coming to Special Olympics PA. Visit http://smile.amazon.com/ today, select Special Olympics PA, and start shopping!
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization.
Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations. You will see eligible products marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their product detail pages. Recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible.
Yes, you use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile. Your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are also the same.
Test your speed up 53 flights or 1,019 stairs at this year’s Step Up for Special Olympics presented by PECO. Step Up 2014 is Nov 16. This event features four variations of the stair climb including a timed stair climb, a fun (untimed) stair climb, an “as many times” as you can climb version. If climbing stairs is too easy for you, why not try the CrossFit Climb, where participants add a CrossFit workout prior to the Stair Climb!
SOPA Philly’s Young Professionals Committee will host their 2nd Annual YPC Fundraiser for SOPA Philly. They will host a Live Auction and Fundraising event for Special Olympics Philadelphia in partnership with Varga Bar! Admission will be $10 for which you receive one beer, one raffle ticket for our door prizes and an auction paddle to participate in the bidding for some of our larger items. Be sure to come out and support our Young Professionals Committee and all the work they do to help support our program!
Funds raised will benefit the nearly 2,000 athletes in the Philadelphia area, as well as help welcome new athletes to the cause. The ultimate goal of Special Olympics is to use stories of athletes’ achievements, skills and challenges to educate, engage and ultimately change attitudes toward this population of individuals in Philly and around the world and your contributions help to further this cause.
Sneak peak of some of the items up for bid:
This year marked the 6th annual American Muscle Charity Car Show, the largest charity car show on the East Coast and Special Olympics PA was chosen as the benefiting charity!!! Thanks, American Muscle!On August 16, 2014 thousands of mustangs and even more mustang fanatics came together at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, PA to enjoy all things Mustang! Celebrity guests like Chip Foose, along with a ton of neat vendors, car competitions and some great weather made this day an absolute success. Special Olympics PA had a vending both where we promoted our program, encouraged awareness and even had a bocce court set up where show attendees could play some of our athletes in a friendly United game. The main attraction just may have been the incredible BRANDED SPECIAL OLYMPICS RED MUSTANG that was donated to our booth for the day! Some of our athletes came out to enjoy the show and even chose their favorite mustang of the show to receive an award! The show concluded with a check presentation donating $31,200 from American Muscle to SOPA, but also a surprise donation of $4,300 from the Red Mustang Registry, RMR! Two very generous donations that will significantly impact our program and efforts in the community.
Thank you to American Muscle for selecting Special Olympics and to the car show attendees and partners, like RMR, for really getting behind American Muscle and supporting our great organization! 
To learn more about American Muscle, please visit http://www.americanmuscle.com/
Last night was a very exciting occasion for Special Olympics as President Obama honors Special Olympics at White House gala. Obama celebrated Special Olympics and what the organization stands for.
Special Olympics athletes from around the globe, including two athletes from Pennsylvania (one being Philadelphia’s very own Unified Partner Kenneth Brown), attended the gala at the White House and represented our incredible organization and program. Obama spoke from the heart when he said, “What all these people represent is what the Special Olympics is all about: overcoming obstacles with love and kindness and generosity and health competition. Those are values that everybody can use. Those are values that the Special Olympics can teach all of us.” This is a statement that not only holds true to all of Special Olympics but especially here at SOPA Philly!
We are so proud of our athletes, our volunteers, and our supporters and we couldn’t be more excited for what our future holds! We truly hope you will be a part of it with us! Learn how you can get involved today by supporting us monetarily or with your talents!
On Friday, May 30, 2014, Special Olympics Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia, and the Public Coalition of Charter Schools came together for the 2nd Annual Unified Soccer Tournament to celebrate the culmination of this year’s Unified elective course.
With over 200 athletes and partners in attendance, along with incredible volunteers from TD Bank, Finish Line, and Thomas Edison High School among MANY others, the Unified Soccer Championship was a complete success. Special guests included Superintendent Dr. William Hite, several local councilmen and dignitaries, and our Ceremonial emcees, Jennifer Lewis-Hall and Zach Lashway from PHL17. Director of the Philadelphia Program, Barbara Chavous, and Special Olympics Pennsylvania CEO, Matthew Aaron, both spoke to the crowd and expressed the excitement and joy that this initiative brings to Special Olympics. If the sheer enthusiasm of those in attendance was not enough, 15 computers were donated between the participating schools on behalf of a partnership between Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia and Team Children.
Students from 15 Philadelphia schools played and supported one another as athletes both with and without intellectual disabilities took the field, together. The day was filled with happiness as spectators and participants were able to cheer on teams with SOPA Philly thunder sticks, handcrafted signs, and even let out some additional energy by attending Olympic Town with guest vendors like the Philadelphia Union and PHL17! The success of the day was confirmed when awards and praise were given to the participating schools and students who all roared at the recognition of their accomplishments. Although only one team walked away with the gold, every athlete and partner walked away from the 2nd Annual Unified Soccer Championship as a winner.
Special Olympics Unified Sports® is an inclusive sports program that puts athletes with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. This Unified Soccer elective course includes a curriculum with youth leadership components, anti-bullying elements, and soccer training and competition. The course provides greater access to sports for all students, with and without disabilities.
Come join us for Special Olympics Night with the Sixers! The Sixers will be hosting Special Olympics Pennsylvania at their March 29, 2014 game against the Detriot Pistons. The game starts at 7:30pm. The public is able to purchase tickets to the game and support Special Olympics. Tickets are $28 Mezzanine Centers Rows 1-7 or $43 Lower Level Corners Rows 11-17. $3 per ticket purchased will be given back to Special Olympics Pennsylvania.
You can purchase tickets online here. When prompted, type in promo code: SOPA. Choose the 76ers vs. Detroit Pistons Game. $3 of every ticket purchased using this code will go back to the local program, based on zip code of the person making the purchase.
Special Olympics Pennsylvania athletes in attendance will have the opportunity to go on the court after the game to take a shot and have their photo taken. In addition, Michael Carter Williams will be speaking to our group after the game!
For more information, contact Katie Simmons at 215-339-7657 or email katiesimmons@sixers.com.
Note: You may also use this code to buy tickets to any Sixers game to help benefit our partnership, so please reach out for Katie or follow the above link for all of your Sixers ticket purchases (and share with friends and family too)!
Participants line up at the starting line for the 29th annual Leprechaun Run
This year’s 29th Annual Leprechaun Run was a Success! The Leprechaun Run, a Philadelphia tradition since 1984 continued on March 16th at The Navy Yard and raised over $27,000 for Special Olympics Pennsylvania athletes.
Thank you to everyone who came out to help make the Leprechaun Run the great event that it was! We couldn’t have asked for better weather, or better participants!
We have big plans in store for next year’s 30th run including bringing the run back to its roots on the second Saturday in March. Stayed tuned toward the end of 2014 for further details on what you can expect from our 2015 Leprechaun Run!
For race photos and results, click here for results and click here for photos. For more information about the Leprechaun Run, click here.
See you next year for the Leprechaun’s 30th birthday!
Philadelphia’s 5-a-side soccer team, Stars and Stripes, after earning the Bronze Medal during the impressive showing at the Fall Sectional
On October 5, 2013, Special Olympics Pennsylvania head their 2013 Eastern Fall Sectional at East Stroudsburg University. The Philadelphia local program had an impressive showing at the fall sectional as athletes competed in soccer, bocce, volleyball, powerlifting and long distance running and walking were the sports offered at the Fall Sectional. Three bocce teams, two soccer teams (a 5-a-side team and a 7-a-side team), and a volleyball team represented the Philadelphia local program. The Eastern Fall Sectional is held to determine which athletes qualify for Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s Fall Festival, hosted by Villanova University. After a day of intense competition, we are proud to announce our teams had an impressive showing at the fall sectional.
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