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Unified Sports® Fall Festival Review
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Close to 1,000 athletes of all abilities competed in bocce, croquet, golf, sailing and softball during two consecutive weekends of Unified Sports® Fall Festival events, September 10th and 11th and 17th and 18th. Congratulations to all participants and thank you to the sponsors, volunteers and coaches who encouraged and celebrated them - this event could not happen without you.
Health offerings at our Fall Festival included warm-up exercises with Homefield (inclusive fitness), oral health education provided by UConn Dental School volunteers and healthy eating education offered by volunteers from USJ (University of St. Joseph) Nutrition. Performance stations that focused on pre- and post-competition readiness, nutrition and hydration were also set up at softball.
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Unified Sports® Holiday Classic Coming Up November 19th and 20th
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Our 2022 Unified Sports® Holiday Classic presented by the Connecticut Elks Association will take place November 19th and 20th. The event will give athletes and Unified partners opportunities to come together with their peers from across the state to compete in Unified basketball at Quinnipiac University, bowling at Bowlero Lanes in Milford and AMF Circle Lanes in East Haven, powerlifting (on November 19th only) at Gleason Performance Training in Derby and Unified volleyball at the Hamden Hall Beckerman Athletic Center, Hamden. A Unified basketball divisioning tournament will also take place at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on October 15th and a Unified volleyball divisioning tournament at Fitch High School in Groton on October 16th.
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ESPN Volunteers Play Unified!
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Volunteers from ESPN, a sponsor of our Unified Sports® in schools program, participated in a Unified soccer challenge hosted by Bristol Central High School. The volunteers from ESPN took part in soccer drills and presented medals to participants during the event.
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A Special Olympics Unified Champion School® that demonstrates commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 standards of excellence may receive national banner recognition. The school's activities include Special Olympics Unified Sports® (students with and without disabilities train and compete as teammates), Inclusive Youth Leadership and Whole-School Engagement and they must demonstrate that they have a plan in place to sustain these activities into the future. 2022 National Banner Unified Champion Schools include: Haddam Killingworth Middle School, J. Milton Jeffrey Elementary School, Lyme-Old Lyme High School, Nonnewaug High School*, South Windsor High School*, Stafford Middle School*, Watertown High School and Wilton High School*, all of Connecticut.
*Denotes a school with 4-year renewal recognition
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Webster Private Bank to Present Nick Depuy & the Big Fly Free Concert to Support Special Olympics, October 13th
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Nick Depuy & the Big Fly will perform a free concert presented by Webster Private Bank to benefit Special Olympics Connecticut at the Fairfield Theatre Company, StageOne at FTC, on Thursday, October 13th. StageOne is located at 70 Sanford Street in Fairfield. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Thanks to the generosity of Webster Private Bank and the Band, the concert is free to attend, however general admission tickets must be reserved in advance here.
Donations to Special Olympics Connecticut will be accepted and may be made at the event or online here. For more information about the concert, please call the Fairfield Theatre Company box office at 203-259-1036. To sample the band's music, click here. For more information about Special Olympics Connecticut, visit soct.org or email specialolympicsct@soct.org.
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Susan Saint James Poker Tournament: The annual Poker Tournament took place at Foxwoods Resort Casino on September 18th and raised funds for the Susan Saint James Endowment Fund for Special Olympics Connecticut. The Endowment provides SOCT's local programs with grants to cover the cost of athletic equipment, apparel and travel costs associated with state games. Since the Endowment's inception, more than $450,000 has benefited our athletes.
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SOCT Golf Tournament: The 21st Special Olympics Golf Tournament hosted by Eversource and Foxwoods Resort Casino held at Lake of Isles and organized by a dedicated committee led by Nick Foligno and Al Pollock raised $150,000 for Special Olympics Connecticut! Sponsors included Eversource, Foxwoods, Lake of Isles and Title Sponsor BluRoc. NBC Connecticut's Bob Maxon hosted.
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Enterprise Golf Tournament: Friends with Enterprise held their 8th annual golf tournament to benefit our athletes on September 14th. They've cumulatively raised and donated $460,000 to Special Olympics Connecticut since the tournament's inception!
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Birdies for Charity: SOCT President Mike Mason attended the Travelers Championship Charity Celebration and received a check for $186,410 - money raised to support Special Olympics Connecticut through the Birdies for Charities Program. Travelers Insurance, Webster Bank and the Travelers Championship helped make the donation possible.
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Branford Tip-A-Cop: Officers with the Branford Police Department hosted their annual Tip-A-Cop at Lenny's Indian Head Inn on September 19th and raised over $34,000 for our athletes!
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Coca-Cola: SOCT athletes and staff attended Coca-Cola's North Zone sales meeting at Mohegan Sun. Global Messengers Brett Glaser and Nick Sinacori shared their inspiring stories and SOCT President Mike Mason spoke about the profound impact that employees of Coca-Cola have on the lives of our athletes by giving their time, resources and support. The athletes and Coca-Cola employees also teamed up to assemble Coca-Cola swag bags that will be handed out to participants at our upcoming Unified Sports® Holiday Classic event.
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Hotchkiss Swimathon: The 28th Annual Hotchkiss Swimathon to benefit Special Olympics Connecticut took place on September 23rd. Keith Moon, a member of the Hotchkiss School faculty and SOCT Board Member who founded the event, along with a team of Hotchkiss swimmers, swam a two-mile distance across Lake Wononscopomuc and back and raised over $20,000!
This year, they had a special mission - to support Special Olympics Connecticut and Special Olympics Slovakia's efforts to help Ukrainian refugee families who have children with intellectual disabilities and fled the Ukraine to settle in neighboring countries. Connecticut and Slovakia are working together to provide a Dream Day Care Center in Slovakia where children from the Ukraine can go to be safe and participate in fun, developmental activities.
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Win two tickets to Super Bowl LVII courtesy of the NFL Alumni Association, Connecticut Chapter, by purchasing raffle tickets here. No more than 250 tickets will be sold and 100% of proceeds will benefit SOCT athletes.
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Join Our Champion's Society
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Members of our Champion's Society choose to support Special Olympics Connecticut through planned giving to ensure future athletes have opportunities to be part of our team.
It's Easy to Plan for the Future with These Free Resources
If you're like many people, creating or updating your will or trust and other important documents often falls to the bottom of your "to do" list. We have made it easy for you to get started today with free publications to help you get organized and complete your plans while gaining peace of mind: https://solegacygiving.org/resources
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