The annual fundraiser for Special Olympics is on now at the WalMarts in Hilo and in Kona. Members of the Hawaii County Police Department will be up on scaffoldings from today, Friday, through Sunday, September 30, to raise funds to support the Special Olympics programs on the island. The program helps special athletes take part in a variety of sports, not just on Hawaii Island but on trips to other islands.
There will be people below collecting funds to support Special Olympics West Hawaii, a year-round program dedicated to helping children and adults with intellectual disabilities improve their quality of life through sports.
Cop On Top is the organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Special Olympics West Hawaii is a nonprofit organization that is funded by donations, says recently-retired Area Director Dave Ross.
The organization helps athletes develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skill and friendship with fellow athletes, families and the community. Its teams compete in area games on the Big Island and Maui in order to qualify for the State Games on Oahu, where Special Olympics teams throughout the Hawaiian Islands compete for medals, Ross says.
