Cash for the Games

Special Olympics Ontario is in need of some serious cash. And they need it post haste.

Organizers of the Special Olympics Ontario Winter Games, slated for Thunder Bay starting Jan. 20, say they still need to raise between $100,000 and $150,000 in order to meet their budget, about $276,000 needed for travel costs alone.

“There is much work yet to be done,” said J.P. Levesque, chairman of the 2011 Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games.

“I applaud those who have recently stepped up to the plate to help this worthwhile effort.”

The additional money is needed to ensure that all athletes who qualify are able to get to Thunder Bay and have the opportunity to compete.

Three local groups – The Keg Spirit Foundation, the John Andrews Foundation and the Thunder Bay Community Foundation – have agreed to step up and lend a fiscal hand. The organizing committee also has an active adopt-an-athlete program designed to raise the rest of the revenue in the six weeks left before the Games are slated to begin.

Const. Julie Tilbury, the Games manager, said 260 athletes have already been spoken for. That leaves about 100 to go.

“Our goal is 361, so we’d really like to encourage the community to come together to see if we can raise the funds to bring the athletes here so they can have a great time in our city,” she said.

For $500 an individual or business can adopt an athlete, helping to cover the costs of getting to and from the Games.

Also on Tuesday, officials unveiled the name of the Games’ polar bear mascot, thanks to the creativity of Grade 4 Gorham and Ware student Kylii Saarinen. 

Inspired by the call of the wild, Kylii said Echo is a name that athletes of all abilities can relate to and rally behind.

“The name Echo is like a cheer, saying ‘Awww’ echoing through the wind,” she wrote on her entry, one of hundreds Games organizers received.

“That is why I think Echo is a good name.”

The youngster described the friendly mascot as polite, loving, caring and cheering. Those are qualities Const. Tilbury said fit in well with the philosophy behind the Games, being held in Thunder Bay from Jan. 20 to 23.

“I think the idea behind the echoing of the crowd’s cheering was something that really struck with the committee that was looking through all the names,” Tilbury said. “They thought that was what they would like to hear from the Games, the crowds cheering these athletes some more for their successes,” she said.