Articles in Sponsors

Special Olympics Iowa (SOIA) Champion Statewide Partner Hy-Vee has had a long-standing tradition of employing individuals with intellectual disabilities, including many SOIA athletes. Hy-Vee has provided funding, volunteers and resources to Special Olympics Iowa athletes for decades. As a Champion Statewide Partner, Hy-Vee has provided more than $300,000 over the years to support events like Summer Games, the Mid-Winter Tournament, Winter Games, Team Iowa at the USA Games, the Plane Pull, and Polar Plunges®. Not only does the corporation provide financial support, but local Hy-Vee stores throughout Iowa also generously donate food for Special Olympics Iowa events.

In addition to financial support and food donations, Hy-Vee provides dietitians at Special Olympics Iowa events who offer free education and resources to athletes and families regarding healthy eating and lifestyle choices. Many Hy-Vee employees also volunteer for SOIA.

Meet some of our Iowa athletes that work at local Hy-Vee stores across the state!

Kevin Schmieder, Davenport
Kevin has worked at Hy-Vee for 21 and a half years. Kevin when first hired bagged groceries, picked up carts, and cleaned. He now works back in the kitchen busing tables and doing dishes. He is grateful for how good Hy-Vee has been to him over the years. He loves the friendly environment of coworkers and customers. He has always had great bosses and opportunities through Hy-Vee.

Tiffani Johnson, Sioux City
Tiffani has been working for Hy-Vee for three years. Tiffani works in the cafeteria cleaning off tables. She also is known for giving out hugs at work and has a clicker to count all the hugs she gets while working! Customers love to find her while at Hy-Vee to give her a hug and see what number they are! Tiffani loves working at Hy-Vee because of the staff and customers. She likes the safe environment there where they treat everyone respectfully.

Rob Beard, Marshalltown
Rob has worked at Hy-Vee for 22 years. His job is maintenance, everything from cleaning to putting things back on the shelf! Rob likes working at Hy-Vee because of how great the staff and customers are. Hy-Vee does a good job working with his Special Olympics schedule, while also celebrating his accomplishments.

Special Olympics Iowa is happy to announce that UnitedHealthcare will be a SOIA Premier Statewide Partner and a sponsor of Challenge Days and the Healthy Athletes program in 2018.

UnitedHealthcare fits right in with the SOIA mission, as the company works every day “to help people live healthier lives.” The company has a strong history with SOIA, serving as a Gold Level Sponsor in past years before becoming a Statewide Partner in 2017.

UnitedHealthcare volunteers will continue to help with SOIA Healthy Athletes events throughout the year by providing athletes with screenings like Healthy Hearing and teaching athletes about nutrition, safety, and fitness through Health Promotions. …

Special Olympics Iowa Statewide Partner Lincoln Savings Bank, along with Learfield Sports and the University of Northern Iowa, have partnered together this winter to present an Athlete of the Game at each of UNI’s home Men’s Basketball games.

Athletes will be selected prior to the games and will be given the opportunity to be announced during the second half of the games. Athletes will also receive four complimentary tickets to the game and a shirt.

Lincoln Savings Bank was looking for a way to help showcase SOIA athletes. “Lincoln Savings Bank is a proud supporter of Special Olympics as well as Panther Sports Properties,” says Lincoln Savings Bank Regional Marketing Coordinator Ashley Ungs. “The opportunity came to fruition for recognition at men’s home basketball games. LSB preferred to highlight the men and women of Special Olympics and their accomplishments versus our own employees.”

As a Statewide Partner, Lincoln Savings Bank works with SOIA athletes year-round and volunteer for events like the West Des Moines and Cedar Falls/Waterloo Polar Plunges. They also volunteer at SOIA’s Summer Games every May. “Our corporate sponsorship with Special Olympics is near and dear to the hearts of LSB employees,” says Ungs. “As a community bank, it is our passion to give back to our communities.” …

Special Olympics Iowa (SOIA) has received a $25,000 grant from Variety- the Children’s Charity to fund its Young Athlete Play Days and Unified Champion Schools special programs.

Young Athlete Play Days are designed to provide play activities and socialization opportunities for children with intellectual disabilities between the ages of two and seven. Play Days were created to serve children too young to participate in formal Special Olympics events (athletes can begin competing at age eight).

The Unified Champion Schools program partners SOIA with pre-schools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges to implement three main components of inclusion: Unified Sports, youth leadership & advocacy and whole-school engagement.

SOIA is a nonprofit organization serving children and adults with intellectual disabilities by providing them with sport programs. Since 1968, Special Olympics Iowa has been a statewide movement that unleashes the human spirit through the transformative power and joy of sports. Using sports as the catalyst, and including programming on health and education, Special Olympics is fighting inactivity, injustice and intolerance. As a result, people with intellectual disabilities become accepted and valued members of their communities, which leads to a more respectful and inclusive society for all.

The Variety grant will be used to help continue SOIA special programs and to improve their already existing activities to ensure full physical exercise and overall healthy lifestyle for the over 14,000 athletes in the state of Iowa. …

Casey’s General Stores throughout Iowa helped raise funds for Special Olympics Iowa this June with the Casey’s Promotion. Stores, in partnership with Coca-Cola, sold $1 pin-ups with proceeds being donated to Special Olympics as well as a percentage of sales from 44 oz. fountain drinks featuring Special Olympics athletes being donated to the nonprofit.

Over 14,000 athletes in Iowa will benefit from this fundraiser, which raised over $98,000. “Casey’s has continuously shown their generous support of our athletes and Unified Partners as they’ve helped us raise not just funds, but awareness for our organization,” says Special Olympics Iowa President and CEO Rich Fellingham. “We are proud to call Casey’s General Stores one of our Champion Statewide Partners.”

The company’s values are rooted in a sense of belonging to the communities in which it operates, which aligns with Special Olympics’ vision of inclusion for all athletes. Together throughout Iowa, the Casey’s Promotion raises awareness about different abilities and helps foster growth for our programs.

Special Olympics Iowa would like to give their sincerest appreciation for Casey’s and Coca-Cola for their generous donation and support.

By Chelsey Kimmel-Kendrick 

More than 425 young children came together to participate in several sports for the Ankeny Play Day on Thursday, April 20 at Ankeny Centennial High School. This is one of many events that is sponsored by one of Special Olympics Iowa’s Premier Statewide Partners, Sammons Financial Group.

Play Days are events where children between the ages of two and seven with intellectual disabilities can play activities and have socialization opportunities. Since athletes cannot participate in Special Olympics events until they’re eight years old, these days were created for those to participate in a more formal setting.

Mary Buscher, human resources consultant for Sammons, says nearly 80 employees from the organization signed up to volunteer for the event. She said Play Days are an event where people do it once and then get hooked. …

We are happy to announce that the Iowa Farm Bureau has become a Premier Statewide Partner with Special Olympics Iowa (SOIA)!

Farm Bureau has always supported SOIA — not only through generous gifts, but also through committed volunteer efforts from employees volunteering at SOIA events. For many years, team members from Farm Bureau have created relationships with athletes and managed events during Summer Games, participated in Unified volleyball, and joined us in many other volunteer opportunities. …

Martial Artists for Children and Community will host their annual 5k Fun Run on Saturday, May 13 in Grimes. Proceeds from the event will be donated to Special Olympics Iowa.

MACC is a 501c3 non-profit organization closely affiliated with Martial Arts America Tae Kwon Do school in Ankeny, Iowa. This organization is designed to provide assistance to the children and community through charity and donation of resources, people and time.

The run will start at the Grimes Community Complex, where parking and vendors will be located. The race will begin at 8 a.m. Registration is open online NOW for $35. If you register and pay online by April 29 you’ll receive a free event T-shirt. Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. the day of the event for those who have not pre-registered online.

Questions? Contact MACC Vice President Alex Bishop at bishopa9311@hotmail.com.

REGISTER NOW

Special Olympics Iowa is happy to announce that in 2017, UnitedHealthcare became a SOIA Premier Statewide Partner and a sponsor of Challenge Days and the Healthy Athletes program, positively impacting thousands of Iowans with intellectual disabilities.

UnitedHealthcare fits right in with the SOIA mission, as the company works every day “to help people live healthier lives.” The company has a strong history with SOIA, serving as a Gold Level Sponsor in past years before coming on as a Statewide Partner. And in 2016-2017, in collaboration with Iowa State University and SOIA, they started the “Athlete of the Game” presentation at ten men’s basketball games at ISU, where a Special Olympics’ athlete is recognized on the floor at Hilton Coliseum and presented with an autographed basketball. Prior to that, UnitedHealthcare donated $25,000 to support SOIA programs and activities across the state.

On Saturday, April 8, as a part of their sponsorship at ISU games, UnitedHealthcare will honor all Special Olympics athletes at the ISU Spring Game. The game starts at 1 p.m. and the event is free. They encourage everyone to come! …