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345 feet. One rappel. One cause. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to face the fear of heights, now is your chance! Special Olympics Iowa’s annual fundraiser Over the Edge will literally take you over the edge of the Financial Center in downtown Des Moines to raise money and awareness for SOIA athletes.

How does Over the Edge exactly work? You must fundraise a minimum of $1,000 to secure your rappelling spot for Wednesday, October 26. You’ll then be assigned a rappel time for that day. You’ll report to the Financial Center the day of the event and will be given instruction on where to go and how to scale down the side of the building. And don’t worry, you’ll be wearing a harness and safety gear!

Of course, if going Over the Edge sounds a little scary to you, there are other ways you can get involved in the event. We’re always looking for more volunteers to help out the day of the event. We even encourage you to help recruit rappellers for the event. …

By: Lori Emery, Delegation Manager- Sioux City Knights 

Many of those reading this may already be familiar with the term Unified Partner as it applies to Special Olympics. However, there are some that do not know about this opportunity to be involved with our athletes. Special Olympics Unified Sports® is an inclusive program that combines individuals with intellectual disabilities (athletes) and individuals without intellectual disabilities (Unified Partners) on sports teams for training and competition.

Meet Robin Hair and Tiffany Bauerly of the Sioux City Knights Special Olympics Iowa delegation. This dynamic duo has lived the unified lifestyle for more than 12 years and is proud to be part of the Special Olympics Unified Sports® movement.

Tiffany first met Robin through Best Buddies, a college program that matched a college student with an individual in the community that had special needs.  Tiffany and Robin would go bowling weekly through this program, but quickly saw that their friendship was growing outside the program.  …

Special Olympics Iowa (SOIA) would like to congratulate athlete Ben Bradshaw of the Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Delegation for bowling a 300 game at a recent practice.

Ben has been in Special Olympics for four years and participates in bowling, basketball, softball and soccer. He started bowling at the age of three and started bowling for SOIA in 2013.

He says in his younger years he bowled on several leagues and he has a dream of going pro. His highest game before his recent 300 score was a 279 when he was 12 years old. Ben admits that he was getting a little nervous in the 8th frame, but it all worked out in the end.

From all of us at SOIA, congratulations again, Ben. Keep making us proud!

On August 27, 2016 the USTA sponsored a tennis competition for Special Olympics Iowa athletes at the North Scott High School tennis courts in Eldridge, Iowa.

About 40 athletes enjoyed great weather and friendly competition while playing singles matches all day. The event included free T-shirts, an award ceremony, pictures and a lunch for athletes, coaches and volunteers. There were also daytime fireworks for all to enjoy!

SOIA would like to thank the USTA for helping put on the event and giving Iowa athletes a great opportunity to test their tennis skills, and volunteers and parents for making the day run smoothly.

The Tailgate for Teammates, happening September 17, is an annual event that takes a different spin on a fall gala. Rather than the dress up black tie event, it is a much more laid back event that has the athletes of Iowa focused. The evening is filled with games, laughter and best of all inclusion – which is a huge focus for Special Olympics.

Athletes are able to enjoy themselves mingling with guests or challenging them in a game of bag toss, or getting their picture taken to remember the evening. Most of the athletes’ favorite part of the evening is being featured on player cards with their picture and some facts about them on the back. The athletes sign these and hand them out to guests as conversation starters and ways to show off their accomplishments throughout their Special Olympics career! …

On Thursday, September 22 you can support Special Olympics Iowa by presenting the flyer below to one of three Granite City food and brewery locations in Iowa!

Download Printable Flyers

As the schools and facilities start gearing up for another fantastic year of Special Olympics Iowa sport competitions, I have one item to refresh/remind you on – the Class A Volunteer Application. My name is Sally Briggs and I process all the Class A applications. We have updated our website with the Class A Volunteer information.  From the home page hover over “Get Involved” and click on “Class A Volunteers” or use this link.

Here are some common tips to remember when filling out the Class A Volunteer application:

• Who should fill out the Class A application?
  • Anyone who has direct contact with athletes, in a position of authority, supervision or trust of athletes
  • Coach, Unified partner, chaperone, one on one, board member, LETR (Law Enforcement Torch Run) volunteers, Committee members, anyone that transports, stays over night with athletes, handles substantial amounts of cash or other assets for Special Olympics Iowa

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Law enforcement officers will stake themselves atop 18 participating Dunkin’ Donuts locations across the state of Iowa on Sept. 9 to help raise money for Special Olympics Iowa (SOIA) in the 2nd annual Cop on a Rooftop event. 

“Cop on a Rooftop” is a unique fundraiser where local officers stand on the roof of a local business while volunteers help collect donations at the entrance and drive-thru of the business. You’ll be able to get a free coffee coupon from participating Dunkin’ Donuts stores when you make a donation to SOIA.

This event is one of many planned and implemented each year by the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) in support of SOIA.

Each year, the LETR initiative continues to grow. In 2015, LETR worked with 750+ law enforcement officers to raise more than $875,000 for Iowa athletes. …

Special Olympics Iowa is looking for a volunteer to help translate important documents into Spanish for future use. We have several forms, including our Physical and Consent form, that we would like to also have in Spanish on our website and available at the state office.

If you or someone you know would be interested in helping with this, contact Gary Harms at 515-986-5520 or gharms@soiowa.org.

Special Olympics Iowa athletes had several opportunities to display their accomplishments this year at the 2016 Iowa State Fair.  

On Wednesday, August 10 athletes and their families were invited to take part in the annual State Fair parade that kicks off the fair. Athletes held up banners and waved at parade watchers as they made their way from the Capitol Building in downtown Des Moines to the State Fairgrounds. Our Statewide Partner Wells Fargo was also on hand at the parade that day as they let SOIA athletes ride in the Wells Fargo stagecoach.

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