The Special Olympics locally will be getting a bit of a hand from local organizer Don Cameron.
Cameron has gotten the local police services on board to play a charity baseball game for the local Special Olympics to take place Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Pleasantdale Diamonds.
“I approached law enforcement to see if they would do something with Special O and we kind of came up with a ball game,” said Cameron. “We're going to mix half our guys with law enforcement and the other half of guys with the other law enforcement. It's a fundraiser for Special Olympics so we can buy equipment for them.”
They want to get as many people out as possible for the event.
“About a year and a half ago, I went to a meeting and Special O came down from Regina,” said Cameron. “I kind of more or less went into it and helped them. I have a young lad that's in Special O too. That was another thing that kind of tipped me over to help them out.”
Cameron's child is involved in bocce ball and bowling locally. Getting the event organized took some time but people got on board quickly.
“Law enforcement really came through for me,” Cameron said. “The other ones in Special O, we have a few volunteers which are helping out with me.”
Cameron would like to raise a decent about of money but is expecting between $500 and $1,000 with the event.
“It'll be our first time and we'll see how it goes,” he said. “We're hoping if it goes good this year, maybe we'll have it annually.”
The athletes that are currently in Special Olympics are on the older side. Awareness of the local chapter is one of the goals for the event, which is being greatly helped by local sponsors.
Locally, Cameron estimates there are about 32 bowlers within the system.
“And there were some new ones in swimming, too,” he said. “We're looking for other athletes out there in Special O. We know there's younger ones, so we're trying to get the younger ones in on board and go swimming, bowling and bocce ball. It would be nice to see them out there.”
