Only 100 days until the Special Olympics 2015 World Games in Los Angeles on July 25, and just 97 days until Arcadia plays Host Town to 100 athletes who will be participating!
With 7,000 athletes from more than 170 countries arriving from around the globe to Los Angeles, The World is Coming!
As the world’s largest sporting event this year, as well as the largest event to take place in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games, this event will highlight the abilities and accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes, as well as the 200 million people with intellectual disabilities worldwide.
The World Games logo, which features a Celebratory Figure inside the Circle of Acceptance and Inclusion, represents the overall mission of these World Games, creating the awareness that leads to acceptance and inclusion of all people with intellectual disabilities.
Arcadia is one of 100 communities across Southern California that are participating in the Host Town Program with fundraising and awareness events that will increase the overall awareness of the World Games coming to Los Angeles this summer.
The next Arcadia Host Town fundraiser will be at The Derby Restaurant on May 18 when 20% of every lunch or dinner purchased that day by Special Olympics supporters will be donated by owners. You may also donate to the Host Town Arcadia committee at this link. Although there have been tens of thousands of dollars in generous in-kind donations, the committee still needs to raise thousands of dollars to cover all expenses.
One hundred Special Olympics World Games athletes, coaches and mentors from the Caribbean dual-island country of Trinidad & Tobago as well as the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) will experience the best that Arcadia has to offer for three days and nights in July (21-24), including everything from visits to the horse race track, police station and mall to one of the City’s weekly outdoor concerts featuring Caribbean music. (Details here.)
The City of Arcadia, including organizations, businesses, and schools, will provide hotel rooms, meals, training facilities, entertainment, transportation, and mostly a warm welcome to 87 guests from Trinidad & Tobago who range in age from 11 to 52, and about a dozen from Kyrgyz Republic. They will use the days and nights to acclimate to the time zone and stay in shape for competition in the world’s largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in 2015 that runs from July 25 – Aug. 2. Opening Ceremonies take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and will be televised on ESPN.
The country selected for each Host Town was chosen by the Special Olympics. Long Beach, for example, will be hosting a large delegation from China.
Track announcements and photos are at the Facebook page called Host Town Arcadia — give it a “Like” and hashtag #ReachUpLA. Follow and support through Instagram @LA2015 @SpecialOlympics World Games.
To learn more about the Host Town program ad get involved, visit www.LA2015.org/Host-Town.
Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) aims to double the number of athletes they serve to nearly 30,000 by 2016. The World Games and the support created in the Host Town communities throughout Southern California will help reach this goal.
This is the first time since the 1984 Olympic Games that Los Angeles will serve as the host city of a major international sporting event, so Los Angeles will be brimming with 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches from 177 countries. The 25-sport competition will be held over 9 days, from July 25 – August 2, 2015 in venues across Los Angeles from Long Beach to Griffith Park. The sporting competition events are free and open to the public.
- More than 4.4 million children and adults with intellectual disabilities participate in Special Olympics worldwide.
- There are 226 Special Olympics Programs in 170 countries around the world.
- Last year, Special Olympics had over 81,000 competitions – an average of 222 games each day.
- None of this would be possible without the support of the more than 1.3 million volunteers who support Special Olympics Programs in their communities.
- Special Olympics athletes have an intellectual disability (whereas athletes with physical disabilities compete in Paralympics).
- Special Olympics athletes are people of all ages, from 8 to over 80, not just children.
- Inactivity, intolerance and injustice are big problems in the world, especially for those with intellectual disabilities. The Special Olympics movement is tackling these issues every day around the world using sport as the catalyst to make this change. To assist in making change,
Special Olympics is looking to young people around the world to be the leaders to make change in their schools, and communities. - Special Olympics launched the #PlayUnified campaign, that will mobilize and inspire millions of athletes, volunteers, supporters and youth across the world to Play and ultimately Live Unified and shape the world to one of respect and acceptance. Join today and visit playunified.org.
