Jun 13, 2015 4 min read

The Greene County community is coming together to build what was once a thriving organization back to its glory days.

Years ago, Special Olympics of Greene County was a very active program, but over the past few years it slowly dissolved and stopped all activity, until recently.

“They just got burned out,” Randi Chambers, Waynesburg resident and program manager for the revitalized Greene County Special Olympics, said. “The management team was too small and there weren’t enough volunteers and manpower to keep it going.”

She, along with the volunteers beside her, do not plan on letting that happen again.

Special Olympics is a global movement that provides sports training and competitive events and games for people of all ages with intellectual disabilities.

With Pennsylvania having more than 20,000 athletes participating in Special Olympics, Greene County will have plenty of opportunities to be an active organization.

“There is real opportunity here for our local athletes. There are regional competitions, state and even the world games,” Chambers said.

All they need are more people willing to take the steps to give local athletes the chance to compete.

For Chambers, personal reasons helped push her to get this organization up and running again. Her daughter, Sydni Chambers, a 2010 graduate of Waynesburg Central High School, plans to be one of the athletes representing Greene County.

She said she is looking forward to being a part of the bocce ball team; the first sport the athletes are being trained for.

“When I moved here, we were looking for Special Olympics,” Chambers said. “I wanted something for Sydni to participate in and then I found out after a couple searches that the county didn’t have a group and that was disappointing.”

Even though she was disappointed, she never would have taken charge until Brianna Watt, a Waynesburg University student, contacted her and lit the fire to get the organization back on its feet.

“I saw the need in Greene County; we don’t really have something they can get physically involved in and feel empowered, and I really wanted to bring that opportunity to our area and give them something to look forward to,” Watt said.

Watt and Chambers found out quickly that many organizations in the local community were ready to volunteer.

Throughout the past couple of months, Waynesburg University has become heavily involved with the success of the Special Olympics. Criminal justice professor Jim Tanda and his Criminal Justice Club have been raising money through an event called the Polar Bear Plunge and through other activities. The Communication Department has been helping with public relations and getting the word out to the community. At a meet-and-greet event hosted in the gym at the university, 60 students volunteered their time.

Local community members are also joining in with the revitalization. Most of the management team’s main positions have been filled such as Kristi White as treasurer, Heather Wise as competition coordinator, Debbie Endler as secretary, Jim Tanda as fundraising coordinator, Eldine Williamson as family coordinator and Dr. Marie Leichleter-Kraus as public relations coordinator.

“I am excited to see the impact it has on the county,” Watt said. “It will impact all of those who will get involved with it and be a positive, great thing for our county to be a part of.”

Chambers was also surprised when state Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, offered her help with getting the organization running again.

The Greene County Fairgrounds has also opened its doors for the athletes to practice on both the fields and in the buildings.

“I don’t think there will be the danger of the burnout anymore,” Chambers said. “We have a community behind us now.”

After a meeting Thursday, the program now has 17 athletes and is planning on beginning bocce ball practices in late June or early July. They also established that more help is needed to fulfill this next step of moving to weekly practices.

More athletes and volunteers are going to be needed to continue to add more sports and competitions to the program.

The plan is to be competing against other counties and districts by November or early 2016, according to Chambers.

“Hopefully this becomes a new little network of friendships throughout the county,” Chambers said.

To get involved in the revitalization of the Special Olympics of Greene County contact 724-833-6408 or email greenecountyspecialolympics@gmail.com.