by Anura Guruge
on June 2, 2023
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It was my first involvement with ‘Special Olympics‘ & I was impressed & happy to be involved. I happened to see, on ‘Facebook‘ (below), a call for volunteers & did so. Not sure why, but I they had never been on my radar as a group needing volunteers. I will volunteer for them, gladly, in the future.
From what I could see they are very organized, very sleek & very friendly. They also have a TON of folks volunteering. I was glad & honored to be involved.
Alas, the weather did not cooperate. For a start it was BRUTALLY HOT. 92F (33C) on the 2nd day of June — in New Hampshire. That is not right. Plus, there was the THREAT of severe thunderstorms. That was the problems. The thunderstorms. The shot put event could not be held indoors. We had both space & equipment issues. So, we had been told, the night before that the event, i.e., the shot put, might get cancelled. In the end, it was, before a single shot was put.
I got there early. I was on my hands & knees brushing cleans the two pits when we were told that the event was CANCELLED. I then helped load all the stuff into trucks so that it could be hauled back. We were told we could go help at other events. I tried the swimming. But, they were well staffed.
I volunteered to come in Saturday IF they rescheduled the shot put. They didn’t. So, in the end I only did about 40 minutes of actual volunteering PLUS a LOT of walking about in the heat (since I refused rides in the numerous golf carts (since I needed my steps (SMILE))).
But, it was rewarding. We ‘all’ went — which, these days, is very rare. So, that was good too. But the heat was oppressive.
I am now on their books & I even have had a couple of personal, individual e-mail communications. I am sure I will get asked again. I am looking forward to it.
