By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Special Olympics and the Knights of Columbus (KOC) have had a longstanding relationship for many years.
The Burlington branch of KOC formed in 2014 and their association with Special Olympics started that same year.
Special Olympics Burlington was founded in the 1990s by Dr. Frank J. Hayden, a professor at McMaster and Western universities.
Ken Fleming, a member of KOC, explained the origin of the collaboration.
“We just wanted something that we could do to build and help the community,” Fleming said. “So, we decided we’re going to do a bottle drive, and the money we raised was going to be for Special Olympics.”
Fleming said KOC has raised over $50,000 for Special Olympics since 2014, mostly through bottle drives. He said the group was able to fill a 40 ft. long “sea container” and hosts the drives “four or five times a year.”
He also said the group hosts barbeques and provided a float for them for this year’s Sound of Music festival parade.
He said that while he often refers to Special Olympians as “kids,” the actual participants range in age from teenagers to middle-aged.
Darlene Halchuk, a community coordinator of Special Olympics Burlington, said the experience of coaching the Special Olympians has proved invaluable.
“I just love coaching these athletes,” Halchuk said. “They really give you a different perspective on life.”
Darren Gale, a Burlington athlete who competed on the Oakville team, won two gold medals in five-pin bowling and Danielle Smith won a silver medal, also as a part of the Oakville team, at the Winter Games in Calgary this year.
And Laura Stremble won a bronze and a gold at the International Games in Berlin for bocce on the Burlington team.
Halchuk described the impact that KOC has had on Special Olympics Burlington.
“The funds that they donate to us help us maintain our programs and allow us to keep our registration fees low,” Halchuk said. “As you know, our special needs community live on a bare bone that is given to them by the government. So, they’re [KOC] so helpful in maintaining low cost and getting us uniforms.”
Fleming said that KOC has also started a flag relay during which a Special Olympics flag is passed amongst Knights of Columbus groups, from district to district in Ontario.
“During the time that the district has them [the flags], the Special Olympics or anybody for that matter, sign the flag and it ultimately ends up at the provincial games that usually happen in May,” Fleming said.
The City of Burlington often designates a week in February or March as “Special Olympics Week” during the time that the flag is located in the city. It is also raised at City Hall during this week.
Fleming said that Special Olympics has a particularly large presence in Burlington.
“Burlington is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, at least the most active city for Special Olympics,” Fleming said. “They have a list of 25 different events or sports to get the kids involved in. And I’m not sure that too many other cities have that many. They run basketball tournaments, floor hockey tournaments, baseball tournaments, swimming tournaments, and things like that.”
He also said that people can choose to direct their donation to Knights of Columbus to go specifically to Special Olympics Burlington.
The next KOC bottle drive is from Saturday, August 10 to Sunday, August 11, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the parking lot of St. Paul the Apostle Church (2265 Headon Rd.).
