DEWITT — Ensuring that the Flame of Hope was burning bright as they carried it 3.3 miles, a group of officers finished the Onondaga County leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run last week to raise funds and awareness for Special Olympics New York.
Held the morning of Monday, May 23, the annual DeWitt Torch Run saw about 25 members of the law enforcement community join athletes with disabilities and other supporters to display a message of inspiration, inclusion and respect.
Participants represented not only the DeWitt Police but also the New York State Police, New York State Courts, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, SUNY Upstate, and the Manlius, Camillus and Cicero police departments.
The runners commenced at the DeWitt Town Hall on Butternut Drive in East Syracuse, proceeding to cross through Kinne and Towpath roads and past traffic on their way to the finish line at Tully’s Good Times, the family restaurant on Erie Boulevard where a buffet-style appreciation party took place.
As they entered the parking lot, Special Olympics athlete Johnny Renzi played a tune on the bagpipes, just like he has for past torch runs and polar plunges.
During the run, some waved flags in the wind, and everyone in attendance donned their torch run T-shirts, each with a $25 price tag that fully benefited the sports organization.
“It’s a great event, and it serves a great, worthwhile purpose,” said Officer Louis Dashno of the Manlius Police Department, which had three of its members take part in the event.
Michaela Darbyshire, the regional associate director of development for Special Olympics New York, said the torch run in DeWitt and the one in Oswego on May 18 were both blessed with blue skies.
“The weather’s been perfect, so the more people running around, biking, driving by and just out and about, the more awareness that can be spread for the organization,” she said.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run was started in 1981 by police chief Richard LaMunyon of Wichita, Kansas, and it came to New York in 1986, eventually becoming the largest fundraiser for this state’s Special Olympics branch.
In an average year, roughly 6,000 New York officers serve as guardians of the flame as they pass the torch over the course of 300 miles. Its final destination this time will be the opening ceremony for the summer games being hosted in Orlando, Florida June 5 through 12.
Statewide, more than $2 million is raised yearly for athletes—a sum of contributions that goes toward training, equipment, venues, uniforms and transportation.
Presently serving more than 31,000 athletes at no cost to them, their families or their caregivers, Special Olympics New York is considered the largest state chapter in the country. It also partners with about 250 schools to offer Unified Sports, which allows students with and without disabilities to compete as teammates.
To learn more about the organization, visit specialolympics-ny.org.
