Leading up to a major Special Olympics event in Chatham-Kent, organizers will be hard at work coordinating multiple fundraisers to support the cause.
Last week, Special Olympics Ontario announced that Chatham-Kent will be hosting the School Championship Games in 2024, which will see more than 1,200 athletes with diverse abilities competing in several sports.
However, before that can happen, organizers with The Law Enforcement Torch Run in Chatham-Kent will be conducting four major fundraisers ahead of the event.
The first is the Torch Ride motorcycle charity cruise on August 12, 2023. The fundraiser will mark the first time the event has partnered with the Wallaceburg Antique Motor and Boat Outing (WAMBO).
The motorcycle cruise will start in Chatham and make its way to Rondeau Provincial Park, then to Dresden, and finally to Wallaceburg where the cruise will end at WAMBO, which takes place the same weekend.
The second fundraiser is the annual Chatham-Kent Torch Run, which has been renamed The Mike Currie Memorial.
Chatham-Kent police officer Mike Currie was a long-time supporter of Special Olympics Ontario who passed away suddenly late last year.
The event on September 9 at Rotary Park in Blenheim will include 1km, 5km and 10km run or walk events, as well as 30km and 60km bike ride events.
“We’ve transitioned and built upon what we previously had to make this out biggest torch run event yet,” said CK police Sergeant Jason Herder.
The annual Polar Plunge will then be held at the Sons of Kent brewery on January 20, 2024.
“We’re very excited from our turnout from last year, raising over $86,000, and we’re looking for the same number if not higher for 2024,” said Herder.
The final major fundraiser will see organizers partner with Over The Edge for an event on June 8, 2024. Those who are able to raise $1,000 for the fundraiser, will get the chance to repel down the side of a building. The location of the event has not yet been determined.
The 2024 Special Olympics Ontario School Championship Games will be held on June 10-12 in Chatham and Ridgetown.