Our goal when starting Special Olympics Community Club was to simply expose our special needs students and their partners to new opportunities. Our very first trip outside of school was eye opening for us. As we drove down to an Arizona Special Olympics sponsored event, our kids were thrilled to be "driving on a big road" (interstate) and were fascinated with the van doors that opened automatically. We live in the small, rural community of Wickenburg and there are many things our students do not have the exposure to. So, new and exciting adventures continued for our club.

Our club attended a Special Olympics event and discovered that bocce ball is almost always offered as an activity, however, our kids had never played and did not know the rules. We came home and requested bocce ball sets through Support My Club and were lucky enough to receive them just in time for our kids to practice before their next event. Some of the items we've requested on our page are not glamorous, but necessities. For instance, we've requested water in the past to have during practices and events as many of them have medical needs.

Support My Club makes it easy to post items and experiences our students need in order to thrive. It functions much like a gift registry website with the added bonus of student-led community service hours. The items that we have received through Support My Club have totaled hundreds of dollars and for every $100 dollars donated, our club completes one hour of service.

Performing community service meant more fun opportunities for our kids to get involved and experience new things. We took kids down to ring the bells for our local Salvation Army during the holiday season and had them create meals for local police and fire. Giving back to our community has been an added bonus.

We are grateful for Support My Club and the generosity of donors across Arizona.  It has made a huge impact in the lives of our kids and our school. 

Click here to ensure WHS Special Olympics have all requests fulfilled for their next adventure!