Members of the Kiwanis Club of Sandy Springs welcomed not only Historic Roswell Kiwanians but also representatives of Doraville-based Special Olympics Georgia to their biweekly meeting last week at Nancy G’s Café.
The luncheon raised $106 toward the nonprofit’s Law Enforcement Torch Run, its signature fundraiser, on May 18.
Sandy Springs Police Auxiliary spokeswoman Rhonda Sult told about 20 attendees that, despite the city’s recent designation as the ninth richest city in the U.S., the Johns Creek and Dunwoody police departments have already surpassed Sandy Springs in fundraising.
“What the police department needs is your support in helping [the nonprofit] continue their mission to provide sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities,” she said.
Ms. Sult said she and her husband, Police Chief Terry Sult, have a 24-year-old son, Larry, who was born with life-threatening special needs.
“I made up my mind that if my child lived, I would do anything I could do for every needy child in America,” she said.
Athlete and Sandy Springs resident Erin Hoffman, 32, said she plays 11 of the nonprofit’s 23 sports like swimming, bowling, sailing and Alpine skiing.
“By joining Special Olympics, I became part of a team and learned good sportsmanship,” she said. “I also made a few new friends and traveled to lots of new places.”
One of those new places was California, where she met Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; another was Connecticut, where Ms. Hoffman earned gold for the U.S. swim team.
“There is so much to tell, stories about my friends, my coaches, my teammates and my family, but never enough time,” she said. “If you want to help make wonderful memories for me and other athletes, please get involved.”
Sandy Springs Police Department Lt. Bo Eskew said he has been involved for 12 years in activities like the Feb. 20 inaugural Polar Plunge, which netted more than $50,000.
“We wait tables and wash cars. We jump in Lake Lanier when it’s freezing,” he said. “We do it for one reason — to hang a medal on a Special Olympics athlete.”
Eskew invited club members to the Summer Games in May at Emory University in DeKalb County. “You will see grown men that are rough and tough cry like babies,” he said. “I’m one of them.”
Information: (770) 414-9390 ext. 115 or visit www.specialolympicsga.org.