Law enforcement runs torch for special olympics
May 8—Law enforcement officers from several agencies gathered at Dumont Plaza Tuesday morning to take part in the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run benefiting the Special Olympics Mississippi.
Mississippi Bureau of Investigation's Kara Clark said the event serves both to raise awareness for the special olympics and raise funds for the organization.
"It's an awareness type movement for the special olympics," she said. "The money that we would supply to special olympics comes from purchasing the t-shirts, but otherwise it's just to promote awareness for the special olympics."
Clark, who first participated in the run in 2009, got involved with planning the event while working as a deputy with the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office and has carried on that work into her role at MBI.
"The person that was coordinating it left, and one of my partners, she was picking it up, and I offered to help with it, and it kind of became my thing," she said.
Law enforcement throughout the state take part in the event, with individual gatherings beginning in North Mississippi and continuing south to the coast prior to the beginning of the games. Nationally, more than 97,000 officers take part in the event, according to information about the run on the Special Olympics Mississippi website.
Special Olympics Mississippi hosts 19 sports across its fall, summer and spring games, for people with intellectual disabilities to compete in both individual and team competitions. The summer games, which are set to kick off Friday at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, include athletics, aquatics, bocce, bowling, golf, powerlifting, tennis and volleyball.
More information about the special olympics, event schedules and ways to get involved can be found at specialolympicsms.org.
Contact Thomas Howard at thoward@themeridianstar.com
