MERCER COUNTY Special Olympics seeks money

The level of financial support hasn't been enough to meet the needs.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDIC ATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Mercer County Special Olympics is still looking for some help to keep its program afloat.
Frances Sass of Heinz Avenue, area manager for the organization, made a public pitch to Sharon City Council in October, warning that unless the program was able to attract some monetary assistance, it could be forced to cease operations in December.
December came and went, and although the money hasn't been pouring in, Sass hasn't given up. She's still organizing a variety of fund-raising events and looking for donations.
"We are really struggling," she said last week. "Quite frankly, I don't know what we're going to do."
Promised to help: Sharon city officials promised financial help at that October meeting but haven't delivered any yet.
But the request hasn't been forgotten.
Mayor Robert T. Price said the city is expected to amend its 2001 federal Community Development Block Grant application to allocate money, perhaps $5,000, to Special Olympics. That should be available later this spring, he said.
Fred Hoffman, council president, said the city needs written documentation from Sass showing how the money will be spent.
Sass said she also contacted Hermitage in the fall asking for funds but hasn't received help there.
Gary Hinkson, Hermitage city manager, said last week that he was having a difficult time reaching Sass to determine how much she is seeking. Once that is clear, he will take a request for funds to city commissioners.
Cost: Sass said it costs about $40,000 a year to run Mercer County Special Olympics, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for mentally disabled adults and children, age 8 and older, in a variety of Olympic-style sports. The local program is accredited by Special Olympics International, but gets no financial support from the government or the national Special Olympics, and must raise its own funds.
Money donated through national or international Special Olympics helps various health-related programs and national competitions, and some goes to the state Special Olympics organizations.
The goal is to help participants develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills and friendships.
Not all of the local budget is in cash. Roughly half is "in-kind services" such as donated facilities for programs.
No one gets paid. It's all volunteer work. Sass has been doing it for 11 years.
There have been some sizable contributions this year.
"We did get some help, but certainly not enough," Sass said, noting she has written letters to various clubs and organizations in the county seeking help.
Some contributors: The Wal-Mart store in Hermitage contributed $2,196 by sponsoring a Special Olympics Day that sent a portion of the sales proceeds for the day to the program, she said.
Sharon Firefighters Local 417 chipped in $1,000 to help meet program costs, she added.
The Behavioral Health Commission has promised $1,000, and Sharon Quota Club has offered $400, Sass said.
Special Olympics raised $1,000 from its annual spaghetti dinner earlier this year, and Christmas and Easter candy sales, although down substantially from last year, brought in about $1,700, and a bowl-a-thon fund-raiser netted about $1,200.
The program will still need at least $10,000 to $15,000 to get through the year, and that doesn't count efforts to revitalize some programming that had been dropped in recent years, Sass said.
The annual Chinese auction slated for May should clear about $2,000, and a golf outing planned for Sept. 22 at Hickory VFW Golf Course will raise more, she said.
"What I really need is a fund-raiser coordinator," Sass said, noting that she frequently spends 40 hours a week running programs and organizing fund-raising.
Special Olympics has 112 people involved in its bowling program, a 21-week effort with a price of about $7,000. An additional 21 people are participating in the basketball program, and Sass said she has about 250 others interested in those programs or others that Special Olympics has offered in the past.
Starting golf: "We're hoping to start golf this spring," Sass said, noting area churches have come up with 20 sets of donated golf clubs.
Some people are interested in seeing the aquatics and floor hockey programs revived, she said.
Plans are in the works to restart at track program next year, and there is interest in softball, she said.
The need is there -- it's up to the community to help meet it, Sass said.