Washington County resident Dawn Viet is working hard to involve local young people in the Special Olympics and she was the guest speaker at the this week’s meeting of the Chipley Kiwanis Club to update the club members on what is being done to give those young people happy memories of their involvement.
At the right Viet was presented a check from the Chipley Kiwanis Club to help with developing the Special Olympics program in Washington County.
Pointing out that athletes are the heart of Special Olympics, Viet said the athletes are children and adults with intellectual disabilities from all around the world, including Washington County Florida.
Viet said a goal of the program is to help young people find success, joy and friendship as part of our global community. Additionally they can have lots of fun.
Who Are Our Athletes?
Everybody is different. Special Olympics is for people who are different because they learn new skills slowly. They are different in other ways as well. They have an intellectual disability, or ID.
Intellectual disabilities happen in all cultures, races, and countries. The goal of Special Olympics is to reach out to the nearly 200 million people in the world with ID. The 4.9 million Special Olympics athletes – ages 8 years old and up — come from more than 172 countries.
Special Olympics also has a Young Athletes program for children ages 2 to 7. At any age and in every country, the athletes are learning new skills, making new friends and gaining fitness and confidence.