Happy Friday!

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”

-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Tomorrow is Give NOLA Day!

Tomorrow, May 3, from midnight to midnight, Special Olympics Louisiana (SOLA) is participating in Give NOLA Day, which ignites the giving spirit throughout the region. Over 600 nonprofits are competing to raise the most funds in a 24hr time period. SOLA is participating and is very excited about this event.

Can you help?

1. Each person can make a minimum $10 donation to SOLA anytime TOMORROW, May 3rd. Go to www.GiveNOLA.org and search Special Olympics Louisiana.
2. Please forward this Give NOLA Day information out through your personal channels (email and social media).
3. Like and follow Special Olympics Louisiana on social media and help by sharing, linking, commenting, retweeting, etc. TOMORROW.

Thank you for your help and support of children and adults with intellectual disabilities across Louisiana.

Special FOAM

Foam Fest is this weekend and the foam will be extra special! Don’t forget it is not too late to sign up…visit 5KFoamFest.com today to register. Only 3 days left! Remember, if you enter the code OLYMPICS, you will receive $30 off your registration!

Follow them on Facebook to check out the awesome photos and obstacles! Watch the video below to see this year’s obstacles.

2 thumbs UP

Special Olympics Louisiana has lots going on this year: close to 100 events, Special Olympics USA Games, International Law Enforcement Torch Run Conference being hosted in New Orleans and much more! Visit www.laso.org for all the details. We give 2014 two Thumbs UP!

Local representative goes to Korea

Ninoska Guggenheim, with Kenner Police Department, is the Louisiana representative at the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games. She is taking part in the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) Final Leg and will be running all over Korea spreading our message! Check out the LETR Final Leg site

Law Enforcement officials and Special Olympics athletes, unified together as a part of the Final Leg Team, will serve as true Guardians of the Flame™ and promote the powerful messages of inclusion, acceptance, and ability every step of our Final Leg journey to promote the 2013 Winter World Games. The 2013 Korea Final Leg Torch Run will be held from 21 January to 29 January 2013 culminating with the arrival of the Flame of Hope™ by the Guardians of the Flame, the Final Leg team in  Pyeongchang, Korea for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games.

HaPpY WORLD SMILE dAy :)

Happy World Smile Day! Celebrate by watching a short video that’s sure to make you smile! Please share it with all your friends and family because each time the video is viewed today, a donation will be made to Special Olympics!

Wall of Honor

Special Olympics Louisiana is offering its supporters a chance to honor those individuals who have made a significant impact in our program. The size of the “Wall of Honor” at our state headquarters is going to be enlarged. This is an opportunity to have your name or the name of a loved one permanently displayed. We have three different medal types available: Gold, Silver and Bronze. If interested, check out the order form below.

Special Olympics & Paralympics

The Paralympics will soon begin in London, here are a few tidbits about the relationship between Special Olympics, Paralympics, and Olympics.

It was nearly 25 years ago when the IOC (International Olympic Committee) first recognized Special Olympics during the 1988 Winter Olympics. In 2009, the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) membership voted to include athletes with intellectual disability in competitions, starting with the 2012 London Summer Games.

What’s the Difference?
Special Olympics and Paralympics are two separate organizations recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They are similar in that they both focus on sport for athletes with a disability. Apart from that, Special Olympics and the Paralympics differ in three main areas: 1) the disability categories of the athletes that they work with, 2) the criteria and philosophy under which athletes participate, and 3) the structure of their respective organizations.

To be eligible to participate in Special Olympics, athletes must have an intellectual disability; a cognitive delay, or a development disability, that is, functional limitations in both general learning and adaptive skills. (They may also have a physical disability.) Paralympics welcomes athletes from six main disability categories: amputee, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, visually impaired, spinal injuries and Les Autres (French for “the others”, a category that includes conditions that do not fall into the categories mentioned before). To participate in the Paralympic Games, athletes have to fulfill certain criteria and meet certain qualifying standards in order to be eligible. Read More

View the Quick Facts about the Olympics, Special Olympics and Paralympics.

London Olympics 2012

From Special Olympics Louisiana to Team USA…Good Luck and don’t forget to “be brave in the attempt.”

Special Olympics and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have had an on-going relationship since 1988.  Mr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently discussed the importance of how Special Olympics uses the spirit of ‘Olympism’ to promote using sport for a better world, from talking about how Special Olympics and the IOC can work together on issues such as health, education and social inclusion. Read more

Special Olympics Ambassadors

In case you have been living under a rock, the Summer Olympics begin Friday, July 27, 2012, and ends Sunday, August 12, 2012. As the 2012 London Olympics approaches at the end of this month, we are very excited to cheer on one of our Special Olympics Ambassadors, Michael Phelps.

“Special Olympics Ambassadors are helping people with intellectual disabilities, changing lives, and helping create a world where each person, regardless of ability or disability, is accepted and celebrated and contributes to the strength and vibrancy of the whole.” Read More

Other past Olympians who serve as Special Olympics Ambassadors are:
– Apollo Ohno
– Nadia Comaneci
– Scott Hamilton
– Yao Ming
– Yuna Kim

Others Olympians not serving as global ambassadors but who have shown their support in the past for Special Olympics are USA gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin.

We wish all Olympians the best of luck at the upcoming games!