Melfort Special Olympics participating at the Melfort Multi-K in September. (Submitted photo/ Melfort Special Olympics)

By Ben Tompkins

Annual General Meeting

Melfort Special Olympics stronger than ever despite pandemic woes

Oct 20, 2021 | 1:14 PM

The Melfort Special Olympics General Meeting was held Tuesday in which they discussed how this past year has gone and what they hope to accomplish in the upcoming year.

Despite being very limited to the programs that they were able to hold, as well as about half of their athletes no longer attending programming, both due to the pandemic, they are in one of the best financial situations that they’ve ever been in for this time of year.

Henry Jespersen, treasurer of the Melfort Special Olympics organization, told northeastNOW that because they were holding a lot less programming, that meant way less travel fees and facility costs. Pair that up with a reimbursement from Special Olympics Saskatchewan and some succesful fundraising events and that leads to financial success.

“We’re in amazing shape,” Jespersen said. “Normally at this time of year, we’d be scraping by, but because we didn’t really do anything last year, we didn’t have to pay all the facility costs and we didn’t travel and go to tournaments. On top of that, we spent almost $5,000 on sports equipment and Special Olympics Saskatchewan reimbursed almost every penny. You add that to the very successful bottle drives and what not and it’s just been amazing.”

Now although they didn’t hold nearly the same amount or levels of programs that they’re accustomed to, that didn’t mean that they were completely wiped out.

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“In terms of programs and athletes, the Bocce went really well this spring and summer and the walking program really helped keep the athletes interested, so that when fall came we could re-open and actually have people raring and ready to do something,” Jespersen said. “Part of that walking program was participating in the Melfort Multi-k, in which we had everybody but one participate in.”

Of course, the hopes are set a lot higher this year, for this organization as vaccination numbers continue to go up and restrictions ease on events being held, as long as you’re double vaccinated and wearing a mask. For this group, especially with all the equipment that they just purchased, that means they have big plans already in the works. The only problem, however, is that they need more coaches and volunteers if they are going to succeed.

“For this coming year, we’ll see what happens,” Jespersen said. “As always, we’re short of coaches and volunteers. We had a swim coach last year, but now she has moved away. The snowshoeing has always gone well, but is so dependant on weather. Skiing has been more of a challenge, because until this year when we bought new skiis, we had three ping bindings and for our athletes to put those on was hopeless. I’m hoping for some good things this year.”

As mentioned, double vaccination and masking is required whether it be an indoor or outdoor sport for anyone that is involved. Bowling has already started and is being run on Thursdays, with curling set to start beginning of November.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8