News

It is with great excitement that Special Olympics Iowa has opened two Endow Iowa agency funds. These funds demonstrate an investment in the athletes of both today and the future athletes of tomorrow.

An endowment fund is an investment fund held at a community foundation where the earnings are used as a source of income for the organization. There are currently two Endow Iowa agency funds: one held at the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines and one at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. These two funds provide donors additional benefits through the Endow Iowa Tax Credit and will continue forever as a source of income to help with the growing number of athletes that Special Olympics Iowa continues to serve.

If you have any questions or would like information on how to give to these funds please contact Stuart Steffy (ssteffy@soiowa.org) at the state office.

Plunging for a Purpose has taken on a whole new meaning for the Betsworth family. Mitchell Betsworth has been a Special Olympics Iowa athlete since junior high and now at the age of 20, completed his sixth Polar Plunge®.

“I love running into the water,” Mitchell says.

Mitchell is a member of the Sioux City Knights, which had 10 athletes on three different plunge teams participate in the 2015 Siouxland Polar Plunge® on Oct. 24. The teams raised more than $18,500 for Special Olympics Iowa.

But, the tradition of the Polar Plunge® began long before the Knights were formed.

“We heard something 11 years ago on the radio on a Wednesday,” recalled Mitchell’s dad, Troy Betsworth. “We collected money the night before and I talked my brother into doing it with me. There was a need for raising money for Special Olympics and we thought we could help.”

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Because of forecasts of adverse winter weather conditions throughout the state of Iowa, the Special Olympics Iowa State Bowling Tournament, scheduled for Saturday, November 21, in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Sioux City has been cancelled. It will not be rescheduled.

The forecast continues to call for sleet, heavy snow and wind throughout the state on Friday and into the early hours of Saturday, with heavy winds continuing throughout the day on Saturday.

This was not an easy decision to make. We did our best to carefully consider all of the information available, including feedback from our delegations, athlete family members and volunteers, and weigh the consequences of moving forward with the event versus canceling it.  In the end, it came down to our commitment to your safety and to the safety of our athletes, coaches, families and volunteers.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call the state office at 515-986-5520.

In 2015, UnitedHealthcare has supported Challenge Days and the Healthy Athletes program as a Gold Level Sponsor, positively impacting thousands of Iowans with intellectual disabilities.

By Katie Bonner, director of marketing and community outreach at UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare’s mission is “to help people live healthier lives.” We have operated health plans in Iowa since the 1980s, serving a wide range of Iowans, including those who get their coverage through employers, the armed forces and Medicare plans. We have served children in the Iowa hawk-i program since 2000. We are dedicated to promoting health for all Iowans in every stage of their lives.

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Thank you to all of our delegation managers, coaches and volunteers for submitting your Class A Volunteer Applications. The applications are being processed much smoother because of your help making sure all the application components are complete.

Remember incomplete Class A Volunteer Applications will be held at the state office for three months. After that, the application will be shredded and you will have to resubmit a new application to volunteer.

Applications may take up to 30 days to process, so please plan ahead when you need your credential.

Enterprise – the company used to run background checks will be closed December 9-15, so no applications will be able to be processed during that time. If you need a credential, please submit your application prior to/after this date.

Thank you for volunteering! Special Olympics Iowa programs could not exist without the generous volunteer spirit of so many Iowans!

Volunteers are the mainstay of the Special Olympics organization. They fulfill a wide variety of positions including chaperoning, coaching, event management and fundraising. Volunteers also ensure that athletes receive quality training and competition. One such dedicated volunteer is Sara Bidney, the director of instruction at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines.

Bidney was recently selected as the 2015 PGA Section Teacher of the Year and the 2015 Youth Player Development award winner. This marks the third time in six years that Bidney received the Teacher of the Year honor. She is the only professional to receive both awards in the same year and the only woman to receive both awards.

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More than 800 athletes from across Iowa will be competing in the Special Olympics Iowa State Bowling Tournament on Nov. 21. The tournament will span three locations – Westdale Bowl in Cedar Rapids, Bowlerama in Des Moines and Plaza Lanes in Sioux City.

Athletes of all ages will compete in singles, doubles and four-person team bowling. Bowing is also offered as a Unified sport in doubles and four-person team, where athletes with intellectual disabilities are paired with athletes without disabilities. Ramp bowling is available for athletes who are unable to roll their own bowling ball.

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Erin Birkenholtz has joined the Special Olympics Iowa state office staff as the Director of Regional Field Services for the Southeast Region. She will oversee the East, East Central and Southeast Areas for SOIA.

Birkenholtz has an extensive Special Olympics background, having been a part of Summer Games, Winter Games, Mid-Winter Tournament and Play Days. In addition, she has been responsible for the creation and execution of various fund raising events and program events for SOIA.

She is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where she received her bachelor of science in leisure studies with a therapeutic recreation emphasis. She has most recently been employed by the ARC of East Central Iowa where she supervised, coached and mentored direct service providers, and worked with over 90 individuals and their families in delivering care and instruction to clients.

She is looking forward to engaging with all of our athletes, families and volunteers in the Southeast Region. Please join us in welcoming her to our Special Olympics Iowa family!

Granite City will be donating a portion of its sales to Special Olympics Iowa on Nov. 19!

Visit one of the three Granite City locations in Iowa – Cedar Rapids, Clive and Davenport – on Nov. 19, show your server our flyer and 15% of your total tab will be donated to Special Olympics Iowa!

Can’t stay for a meal? To go orders are included, too!

Thanks to YOU, Casey’s General Store donated more than $34,000 to SOIA from this year’s Casey’s Cup campaign! Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, SOIA athletes and law enforcement officers were featured on the 44-oz. cups, with a portion of the sales going to SOIA.

Casey’s and SOIA also challenged customers to a photo contest, taking photos of themselves with the cups and posting them on social media with one winner each week receiving a free Casey’s pizza. Jessica Clements, an SOIA athlete from Fairfield, was the grand prize winner and received a year’s supply of free Casey’s pizza and a one-night stay with four waterpark passes to the Ramada Tropics Resort in Des Moines.

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