Also, follow Special Olympics Hawaii on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sohawaii and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SpecialOlympicsHawaii for updates on the event.
Special Olympics Hawaii has received a $24,834 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to support sports training and competition opportunities for Native Hawaiian athletes.
“We are incredibly thankful to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for their generosity in supporting our island athletes and providing continued opportunities for their success in the coming year,” said Nancy Bottelo, Special Olympics Hawaii president.
“This grant will go a long way towards helping us continue to provide services for our Native Hawaiian athletes throughout the state and offer them important access to health and wellness opportunities.”
In addition to sports training and competition, Special Olympics Hawaii athletes have access to year-round wellness and health programs. The Healthy Athletes Program is offered each year at the state Summer Games competition and provides participants with free screenings in dental care, vision, hearing, nutrition and physical fitness.
Special Olympics Hawaii also assists with medical assessments through the Medfest program to ensure that each athlete has updated information on his or her general health, physical limitations and medication during training and competition.
Special Olympics Hawaii also runs programs meant to promote inclusion for individuals with intellectual disabilities throughout the state. Under the I Play Day initiative, special education preschoolers ages 2-5 are given the opportunity for physical activity while teachers, educational assistants and parents receive knowledge on developing fitness activities for children with special needs.
Special Olympics Hawaii provides year-round sports training opportunities and will assist more than 2,700 athletes from across the state in 2012 at no cost to athletes or their families.
Nearly 40 percent of these athletes are of Native Hawaiian ancestry and benefit from the nonprofit’s outreach and health care programs, said Bottelo. The average cost to provide one athlete with sports training and competition is approximately $1,044 a year.
For more information, please contact 808-943-8808 or visit www.specialolympicshawaii.org.
Also, follow Special Olympics Hawaii on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sohawaii and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SpecialOlympicsHawaii for updates on the event.