Today 67 Special Olympics athletes from Tennessee took off from Nashville for the World Summer Games in Raleigh-Durham/Chapel Hill, NC, and Rogers' pilots Bill Torphy and Steve Warden helped them get there as part of what's known as the world's largest peacetime airlift.
Rogers Group's Aviation Department is part of a network of Cessna Citation users who participate in the Special Olympics Airlift, providing free transportation for Special Olympics athletes to the World Games on corporate aircraft. About seven Citations took off today from Signature Flight Services, each filled with a group of excited athletes on their way to North Carolina for 11 days. All four local TV stations photographed and interviewed our pilots, many of the athletes, parents and other volunteers, as just a small bit of recognition for their efforts in this amazing project.
From 8:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., a Cessna Citation will land every 2-3 minutes at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The same companies will provide return transportation as well, as part of an effort by 260 US companies delivering nearly 2,000 Special Olympics Athletes. For more information on the airlift, visit http://www.citationairlift.com/.
Every Special Olympics athlete is required to complete at least six weeks of training in any sport before participating in area or state competition. Training can occur with a school group, club, team, or can even be coached by a family member.
From training athletes to organizing health examinations, raising funds, serving on advisory committees, and conducting games and competition events, the Special Olympics is an enormous, complicated effort that depends on volunteers who contribute their time, skills and energy to the cause. Many opportunities for volunteers are available within every level of the organization. If you're interested, visit http://www.specialolympics.org/ or http://www.specialolympics-tn.org/
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