UPDATE Monday, May 2, 2:13pm | A big “thank you” is in order to all of the Long Beach Post readers who stepped up to the plate and responded to our post on Friday (see below) about this Saturday’s Long Beach Special Olympics having faced potential cancellation due to a lack of volunteers.
The Long Beach Post has just learned that the event’s organizers have received an overwhelming flood of calls and e-mails from hundreds of area residents who read the story and were inspired to sign up to volunteer.
Ashley Wayland, who coaches the local Special Olympics basketball team and will be volunteering at this year’s annual Long Beach Special Olympics, sent the Post an e-mail this afternoon stating that so many people have volunteered that there is no longer a need for additional helpers.
“We have had over 300 people call or e-mail in response to the post on the site,” Wayland said in an e-mail. “We have more volunteers than we have ever had!”
The 42nd annual games are set for this Saturday, May 7, at Millikan High School.
Friday, April 29, 2:05pm | The Long Beach Special Olympics are right around the corner, and organizers are issuing an urgent call for volunteers.
Elyse Garcia, who serves as the Long Beach area director for the Special Olympics of Southern California, said that hundreds of athletes have registered to participate in the May 7 games, but the event is in jeopardy of being canceled unless enough volunteers are recruited.
“We have over 500 athletes coming and will end up having to cancel if we don’t have enough people to help,” Garcia said in a Friday e-mail.
The Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization for people of all ages with cognitive disabilities. In Southern California alone, more than 9,000 children and adults with cognitive disabilities from 11 counties participate in the year-round sports training and competition program, which empowers them to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition, according to the Special Olympics of Southern California website.
The Long Beach games, which include competitions in the categories of Aquatics, Athletics (track and field) and Basketball, are scheduled to be held at Millikan High School, 2800 Snowden Ave., on Saturday, May 7, at 9 a.m. Volunteers are needed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Anyone who volunteers to fulfill a requirement will receive a letter of completion for the hours he or she volunteers.
“I’m excited about this year’s Special Olympics in Long Beach,” said Ashley Wayland, who plans to volunteer for the 2011 Long Beach Special Olympics. “I think that this is going to be a great opportunity for me to volunteer and be active in the community, as well as contributing to a cause I really believe in.”
Those interested in volunteering or who have any questions should contact Wayland by sending an e-mail to [email protected].
Editor’s note: Earlier versions of this post failed to clarify that the city of Long Beach is in no way involved in the annual Long Beach Special Olympics games. The event is held and supported by Special Olympics of Southern California.