Community Corner

Law Enforcement Community Kicks Off Virginia Special Olympics Torch Run

More than 2,000 officers will run through the state with the flame.

The road to the Special Olympics' Virginia Summer Games  began in Reston on Wednesday with the lighting of the torch.

Over the next fews weeks, more than 2,000 law enforcement officials will run through the commonwealth with the flame, raising money and awareness of the cause. The Summer Games begin June 10 in Richmond.

Law enforcement officials have been supporters of Virginia Special Olympics for 26 years, Virginia Special Olympics president Rick Jeffery said at the kickoff at

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Representatives from law enforcement agencies across Virginia, as well as corporate sponsors Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Sun Trust Bank, presented Special Olympics with a total of $846,506 in donations Wednesday. Law enforcement organizations have teamed to give Special Olympics a total of more than $13 million since their partnership began.

Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer will be among the Northern Virginia officials who will relay from the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington to Prince William County on June 9.

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"To help an organization like Special Olympics is a privilege and an honor," Rohrer said. "The Special Olympics is about the universal language of sports. It demonstrates that people with intellectual disabilities will succeed if given the opportunity."

The torch was carried and the cauldron was lit by runners Rose Pleskow of Reston and Karen Dickerson of Springfield. Both Pleskow, 21, and Dickerson, 25, will also compete in the Special Olympics World Games in Athens, Greece in June.

Jeffrey pointed out that Dickerson has run two Boston Marathons in 3 1/2 hours.

"The Special Olympics is all about sports, and it is not about sports at all," he said. "If we create understanding about people's abilities, we can make that leap to understanding people who are different than us - intellectually, racially, economically -  we can all walk as one."

Also speaking at the ceremony were Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova. Special Olympian Frank Stevens addressed the crowd and received a standing ovation for a moving speech.

"We know we have friends in uniform wherever we go," he told the law enforcement officers. "We have friends who are ready to walk with us when the woods of life seem dark and deep. That is the miracle of Special Olympics."


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