Special Olympics
Donations Accepted
As a long-time supporter of Special Olympics and Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC), the Wake Forest Police Department accepts donations year-round in support of these worthy causes.
Thanks to the generous contributions of the Wake Forest community, we have raised well over $25,000 for Special Olympics and SONC.
Special Olympics NC
Special Olympics North Carolina is one of the largest Special Olympics programs in the world with nearly 40,000 registered athletes who train and compete in year-round programs in 20 different sports.
The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults 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.
Law Enforcement Torch Run
The Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics began in 1981 in Kansas where Wichita Police Chief Richard LaMunyon saw an urgent need to raise funds and increase awareness for Special Olympics.
The idea behind the Torch Run was to provide law enforcement officers with an opportunity to volunteer with Special Olympics in the communities where the officers lived and worked. After three years of successful runs in Kansas, Chief LaMunyon presented his idea to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which endorsed Special Olympics International as its official charity through the Torch Run.
In North Carolina, the first Torch Run was organized in 1987 when relays were run from Raleigh and Charlotte to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Fetzer Field, site of the 1987 SONC Summer Games.