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February 2015
Polar Plunge Season Kicks Off This Weekend

Donut Dash & Illini Plunge New in 2015

The 2015 Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge season kicks off this weekend with the SUPER Plunge and traditional Plunges in Bloomington, Evanston and Fox Lake. In addition to the SUPER Plunge and traditional Plunge sites, we've added two new exciting Polar events - the Polar Donut Dash and Illini Plunge!

 

The inaugural Polar Donut Dash will be held on Saturday, Feb. 28, in conjunction with the Carbondale Polar Plunge on the Southern Illinois University campus. This 5K fun run/walk is unique since your ability to eat donuts is just as important as your speed! Dashers who partake in the donut stops along the 3.1-mile route will be rewarded with a deduction from their overall time. Registration for the Polar Donut Dash is $30 online or $35 day of. To register for the Carbondale Plunge or Donut Dash, click here

 

Fans of the orange and blue also have a unique polar opportunity on the University of Illinois campus! Special Olympics Illinois and the U of I have partnered to host the inaugural Illini Polar Plunge on Saturday, March 7. Illini students, staff and fans will plunge into chilly pools of water on the field of Memorial Stadium in Champaign.  

Plungers must raise a minimum of $75 to participate and can register by clicking here

 

For more information on all of our Polar Plunge events, visit www.plungeillinois.com. Read about Chad's Run to the Plunge that kicks off Lake Springfield Polar Plunge.

Making a Difference on a Global Scale
 
Bob Reczek and son, Matthew, at 2010 Basketball Tournament.

When Bob Reczek of Mokena, parent of athlete Matthew, began refereeing basketball 37 years ago, he wanted to make a difference on the sport - to improve it not only for the players, but also coaches and administrators. 

 

Little did he know then how much of a difference the sport would have on his life and how important Special Olympics would become to him and his family. Reczek will head to Los Angeles in July to referee basketball at the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games. Joining him on his journey will be his family, including Matthew - the reason Reczek became involved in Special Olympics.

 

His inspiring story earned him a place among the finalists in the SOILL Share Your Story contest. Read Bob Reczek's story here.

First Look at Chicago Auto Show A Success

This year's edition of First Look for Charity was our most memorable yet!  Held on Feb. 13, at McCormick Place, the event was attended by thousands of people looking to get a first look at all the latest cars on display at the Auto Show.  We were honored to return for the fifth year as one of the 18 benefiting charities to this premiere, black-tie event.

 

Athletes Ela Stoklosa and Nick Lorenz wave to the crowd at the First Look for Charity
Hundreds of guests gathered at the Special Olympics Illinois Venetian Masquerade-themed hospitality suite prior to the start of the event.  They enjoyed Italian drinks and hors d'oeuvres, donned colorful Venetian masks and mingled with board members, athletes and other guests. Kambr Kutowski and Shane Blake, Share Your Story contest winners, served as Honorary Chairs for the event and were recognized by Dave Breen, SOILL President & CEO. Our athletes had the chance to walk the event's red carpet and meet several on-air television personalities such as Ryan Chiaverini, Val Warner, Ravi Baichwal, Linda Yu and Mark Giangreco.  It was an exciting event for all who attended!

 

We're extremely grateful to our event sponsors: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, CME Group, MAKE Corporation and RSA Medical whose support helped make the event even more special.

 

Proceeds from this event have given us an early start on our efforts to extend the Special Olympics experience to even more athletes in 2015. If you would like information about becoming involved in 2016, please contact Shelley Chenoweth at 630-942-5610.

Unified Relay Across America Coming To Illinois

For the first time since 1999, the Special Olympics World Summer Games will be held in the United States. In the 46 days leading up to the LA2015 Games, Special Olympics will introduce the Unified Relay Across America presented by Bank of America, an event that will leave the country unified to create communities of respect and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities.

 

The Unified Relay Across America is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for America to build communities of respect and inclusion.In a hand-to-hand exchange, people throughout the nation will carry the Special Olympics Flame of Hope across the country and deliver it to Los Angeles. The Unified Relay will be three simultaneous routes hitting all 50 states and will be led by celebrity and Special Olympics athlete co-captains and supported by law enforcement officers.

 

The Unified Relay travels through Illinois on two routes:

  • Central Route: June 8-9 - Nashville, TN, to Marion, IL and Marion, IL to St. Louis, MO
  • Northern Route: June 12 & 14 - Indianapolis, IN to Chicago, IL with a community event in Chicago on June 13 and Chicago, IL to Milwaukee, WI

As dedicated members of our movement, we want to invite you to participate in this monumental experience. Gather your family, friends, colleagues and community members to join the Special Olympics movement and register for the Unified Relay Across America in Illinois.

Chicago Fire, SOILL Create Unified Soccer Team

The Chicago Fire Soccer Club and Special Olympics Illinois announced a partnership to create a Unified Sports soccer team. Unified Sports joins athletes both with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team.

 

"This is a great opportunity to leverage the Fire's reach in the Chicagoland community to raise awareness of the programming available to athletes with special needs while promoting respect, inclusion and acceptance of all people," said Chicago Fire Senior Director of Community Relations Jessica Yavitz.

 

Tryouts for the Special Olympics Illinois team will be held in the spring. In addition to receiving training and coaching instruction from Fire players and coaches, the team will be honored at Toyota Park prior to the Fire's match against Eastern Conference rivals D.C. United on June 24. The Special Olympics Illinois team will travel to take on the Special Olympics Oregon team in a Unified Sports soccer match in conjunction with the Fire first team's match against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Aug. 7.

 

Athletes, partners and coaches interested in being a part of this Unified soccer team must submit applications to Jen Marcello -  deadline for coaches to apply is Feb. 27 and deadline for athletes and partners is March 6. Download athlete/partner or coach application forms. 

Firm Provides a Unique Look at Winter Games

 

This year's Winter Games in Galena had some special guests from Airborn Media LLC. AirBorn Media is a team of highly trained pilots, engineers, and media experts who used small remotely piloted aircraft to capture cinema-quality aerial pictures and video of all the Winter Games festivities.

 

Peter Spero, Brendan Stewart and Paul Carlson were on hand filming and photographing athletes, families, volunteers and spectators at the Opening Ceremony as well as competition at Chestnut Mountain. "The images captured provided a whole new perspective of the Games and will be a great asset to our media library. We are so grateful for their efforts and thrilled to be partnering with such an innovative organization," said Corinne Zollars, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at Special Olympics Illinois. 

 

"What an amazing experience for our whole team filming Special Olympics Illinois Winter Games in Galena," said Spero. "The athletes were determined and spirited and the Special Olympics Illinois staff was extremely supportive of our media-gathering efforts. We're honored to partner with Special Olympics in this way and look forward to much more of this incredibly rewarding filming work." View AirBorn Media's footage from Winter Games.

 

Also from Winter Games, Scott Price has volunteered at the alpine venue for about 2 decades and Chicago's Lindblom Academy sends two for snowshoeing.

4 From Illinois Compete at Xperience Tennis Invite

 

Four of our Illinois athletes got the chance of a lifetime to compete in Special Olympics Xperience Tennis Invitational at the Boar's Head Sports Club, held on Jan. 15-17.

 

The Xperience brought together the top Special Olympics tennis athletes in the nation for three days of round-robin tournament play, a University of Virginia tennis clinic and community doubles play. These 36 incredible athletes, including four of Illinois' own - Matt Boerma, Nick Brozek, Kevin Curran, and Brent Ericks - showed what it meant to be a true champion with great tennis skills.

 

Click here for results from the 2015 Xperience to see how our Illinois athletes did. Photos from this event are also posted to the Special Olympics Virginia Facebook page.

What's Happening in Your Area?
 
Find out what's happening around you by reading news from the following Areas in this month's Area News:
  • Area 9
  • Area 13
  • Area 15
  • Area 18
What's Coming Next?

We hope you'll find an event of interest to attend, cheer, volunteer or sponsor:
Thanks to Our State Partners!
Contact:
Special Olympics Illinois State Headquarters
605 E. Willow St., Normal, IL 61761 
309-888-2551 or 1-800-394-0562