Special Olympics Fund

Established by:  City of Ventura

Established on:  July 16, 1991

Purpose of the fund:  The primary purpose of the Fund shall be to serve as a mechanism designed to subsidize and/or offset costs enabling intellectually disabled youth and adults to participate in year-round sports training programs and events through Ventura County Special Olympics. Donations accrue interest and generate revenues for the express purpose of supporting Ventura County Special Olympics programs.

Background:  The mission of the Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for individuals with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community.

Ventura County Special Olympics (SOVC) is a grassroots organization whose funding comes from and remains in Ventura County.  Donations support over 700 Ventura County athletes, ages 8 and up, in a variety of year-round sports programs at over 20 training sites throughout the county.

All Special Olympics athletes have some degree of intellectual disability and many have physical challenges, as well.  For most, Special Olympics is the only outlet where both athletes and their families can interact with others who share similar life experiences. 

A 1996 study at Yale Child Study Center found several significant correlations between Special Olympics and increases in social competence, verbal communication skills and self-reliance.  The length of time an athlete was involved with Special Olympics was the most powerful predictor of social competence.  By instilling lifelong habits of physical fitness and influencing each athlete’s willingness to accept new challenges, Special Olympics provides individuals with intellectual disabilities with “Training for Life.”

In 2004, the Athlete Art Card program was created in Ventura County.  Two artistically talented Special Olympics Athletes were identified, and their original artwork has been used to produce Holiday cards and Valentine’s Day cards.  An every day occasion line of art cards has also been developed.  Sales of the cards benefit programs and services for SOVC Athletes.

SOVC’s largest financial supporter is the Law Enforcement Torch Run – a group of law enforcement representatives from 10 agencies in Ventura County.  Through the efforts of their Tip-A-Cop fundraising events, they contribute over $30,000 annually to SOVC’s growing budget needs. 

At Tip-A-Cop events, representatives of the law enforcement agency act as “celebrity servers” with their tips becoming a donation to Special Olympics Ventura County. 

Every June, law enforcement representatives also take part in the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run.  Three legs of the run converge in Long Beach, where the Special Olympics torch lights the cauldron, officially opening the Special Olympics Southern California Summer Games.

The “Northern Leg” begins in San Luis Obispo, is run through Santa Barbara County, and is handed off to Ventura County law enforcement at the north Ventura County line.  Representatives of the Department of Justice, District Attorney’s Office, Ventura Police Department, Oxnard Police Department, Port Hueneme Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Naval Base Ventura County, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Ventura County Probation Agency, and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Academy carry the Special Olympics Torch through Ventura County.  It is handed off to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lost Hills Station at the Ventura/Los Angeles County line, where it continues its journey to Long Beach.

Additional major funding is received by the Thousand Oaks Rotary from the proceeds of its annual Wine & Art event.  To date, over $120,000 has been donated.

Special Olympics Ventura County’s other major sponsors are PTI Technologies in Camarillo, the Four Points by Sheraton and Holiday Inn Express (Ventura Harbor), derma e Natural Bodycare in Simi Valley, and Ventura Harbor Village.

For more information regarding the City of Ventura, please visit their website:  http://www.cityofventura.net/.  For more information on Ventura County Special Olympics, please call (805) 650-7717.