Give Back Girls Feeding Champions: Summer Connecticut Special Olympics

The hard work and training has been completed and today is the day for the special olympians to showcase the fruits of their training effort. The Give Back Girls were given an important assignment. One that reached each and every team in their time of need!

Joey Passes the Torch in the Special Olympic Torch Run

The Friday before the big event, Guilford, CT had the torch travel down its streets. Arlene's neighborhood was particularly excited to find out that their friend, Joey, would be passing the torch! It was a big day for him and it was the start of an event that would be memorable for a very special population of athletes.

On Saturday, the Give Back Girls headed to the venue for the Special Olympics. The Southern Connecticut State University campus in New Haven, CT was transformed from a collegiate athletic field to an olympic stadium. Michelle was happy to return to her alma mater to volunteer with Special Olympics, where she once volunteered as a student! Each team had their home base where coaches guided and encouraged their athletes as they prepared for their event. Food Trucks were lined up enhancing the celebratory and fun atmosphere.

The Special Olympics is a standing event each winter and summer on the Give Back Girl Calendar. The impact that this organization has on the special needs population is admirable. The organization provides the athletes direction, discipline, encouragement, goals, and an opportunity to experience self-confidence and pride through accomplishment. Recently, Arlene had a discussion with a staff member of the organization where she shared the challenge of finding coaches for certain events. Ice skating was one of those events lacking future coaches in the pipeline. After experiencing the beauty of watching Special Olympics athletes take to the ice, it was difficult to hear the news and imagine a Winter Games without figure skating. If you have it in your heart to become a coach, you can get more information here.

Back to summertime! The Give Back Girls were eager to help with the athletes' lunch distribution. After these athletes participated in their event, they were hungry and thirsty! The coaches lined up at our station to pick up the food and bring it back to the team's home base. Our job was to pack the items listed on an order form into boxes and bags. The lunches consisted of several types of sandwiches, fresh fruit, snack bars, string cheese, and drinks. GBG- Pat and GBG-Michelle were serious about their station! They had packing fresh fruit super efficient! No waiting on those apples or oranges!!

We worked along side a group of Southern University students. Arlene connected with a few that were Nursing majors. Everyone was helpful and worked well as a team.

Running out of sandwiches twice caused a bit of a snafu. The line was long, the coaches were hot, and the replacement sandwiches could not fill the orders accurately. GBG-Arlene and GBG-Colleen did the best with what they had to fill the sandwich orders. Peanut butter and jelly was substituted for turkey and ham sandwiches more than a few times.The complaints were low as the teams were happy to have something to eat and drink after their big event.

As we were leaving, we witnessed the athletes mingling and proudly showing their medals to their family and friends. The smiles on their faces and the pride these athletes displayed are what keep the Give Back Girls coming back to support this incredible organization.

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