Home stretch

With $200,000 left to raise for the Special Olympics Ontario Winter Games that are coming to Thunder Bay in January 2011, a corporate sponsorship from Royal Bank of Canada is welcomed news.

RBC is donating $40,000 for the athletes’ village – to be located at the Victoria Inn and the Best Western Nor’Wester Hotel – that will accommodate about 300 athletes from Jan. 20 to 23.

"It’s a big help from a budgetary standpoint," said Winter Games chairman J.P. Levesque. "This is a big part of our budget, this and transportation. A corporate sponsor like RBC stepping up like this means an awful lot to us and I know it means a lot to the athletes who really probably enjoy their time at the athletes’ village."

RBC has been a sponsor of the Special Olympics since 1968, making them the longest-running corporate sponsor of the games, said regional vice-president Murray Walberg.

"It’s a longstanding partnership," he said. "We were always planning on being a sponsor of the games here in Thunder Bay."

The sponsorship will reduce the costs of accommodation for the athletes and their families, noted Walberg, adding all of their branches are participating in the adopt-an-athlete program, raising $10,000 in the process.

"We’re going to continue to do that right up until the day of the games," Walberg said.

Just under 200 athletes have already been adopted in the campaign and Levesque said there is still room for people, corporations and organizations to jump on board.

He added several schools have been participating in the adopt-an-athlete program, including individual classrooms.

"We expect to see a big turnout at the different venues of schools and school children there to cheer on their athlete," said Levesque.

While the fundraising is a long haul, the excitement of the athletes is worth it.

Levesque said they have about 20 local ambassadors that have talked at several promotional and fundraising events and they love to participate.

"They’re so full of energy and our slogan of ‘be inspired,’ you can’t help but be inspired," he said.
For more information visit www.specialolympics2011games.com.