Letter to the Editor

I am excited to announce that we will be having a basketball season this fall and will participate in the State Games in Great Falls in November. We will be having a general basketball orientation for anyone that is interested in Basketball on September 4th at 5:30pm at ROI. We are also planning a car wash for Saturday August 25th from 10am-2pm at the Foundation for Community Care parking lot, next to IGA. We will need people to help pull this off. Please come support our program.

However, with this great news I must discuss some very pressing issues currently happening in Sidney Special Olympics.

I would like to let everyone know that Sidney Special Olympics IS NOT part of Richland Opportunities, Inc. ROI has supported us by allowing staff to volunteer and with limited financial support. ROI will continue to support Sidney Special Olympics in these ways for as long as conditions allow. Special Olympics is a volunteer organization that focuses on teaching life skills through training for sports. Special Olympics is a volunteer organization with athletes volunteering to participate in the sport and fundraising and coaches volunteering to assist the athletes.

Sidney Special Olympics is in dire need of volunteers to coach, and help in the administrative functions. Currently there are 5 core individuals who have given time and effort, and to continue the program need your assistance. Recruitment is key to the Sidney Special Olympics program. I am very well aware of how much everyone has going on in their lives. Special Olympics is reliant on volunteers from all walks of life and volunteers from the community are needed to sustain this valuable program.

Sidney Special Olympics is in financial stress. We do a yearly fundraiser with the selling of raffle tickets for a new Chevy Truck; this is easy money for us. However this year was the lowest number of tickets sold that I have ever seen. Without volunteers to do fundraising and the lack of involvement by other volunteers, the program will not be able to continue. As of today we have enough money to participate in Basketball this year, but no other activities.

I am pleading for help, Sidney Special Olympics needs people! If we do not get more volunteers, the Sidney Special Olympics program will cease to exist. We need people to help find more people. We need people to help raise money. We need people to help coach and travel with the athletes. We just need people. If you are interested in volunteering or donating please contact Lacy Hutchens at 406-488-3341 ext. 3 or email Lacy at [email protected]

Respectfully,

Lacy Hutchens- Local Program Coordinator