Questionable Questions – Annual Conference Session
Speaker Panel: Gordon Hodge, Dennis Alldridge, Tom Pezzi, Andrea Wetzel, Jeanne Hrovat
Athlete Questions and comments in Bold
How long have you worked in the office?
Gordon – I work outside of the state office.
How many years?
Gordon –I have completed my second year on the board
How are we going to get the money for going to State. Since the hurricane – Since we lost the money with Shopko. When are we going to get it? How are we going to overcome this issue. It is an issue because my mother and I have worried about this.
Denny – That’s a very good question and you referred to what I spoke about at lunch, this year our organization lost an 11-year big sponsor – Shopko -- through no fault of our own. Sometimes big companies do things that affect little people like our organization.
We are looking at a lot of different ways to overcome the shortfall in our budget. What we’re doing is looking at what are the fundraising projects that we really have. Can we grow them to make them bigger? What new projects can we develop? The way we’re set up – there are a lot of people on staff who raise money for Special Olympics. The part we want to increase is the opportunity for the local program to raise money. We have a few things where you can raise money to support your local program to go to state. What we’re hoping is that all the fundraising done to support the hurricane victims won’t hurt us too much. We’re concerned about it – as a matter of fact we had a board meeting yesterday to figure out ways to raise money. Sometimes it’s much easier for you to raise money in your local communities than it is for us to raise money in the whole state. We’re raising money for national games. We all have a piece of this.
Another thing to look at during a budget shortfall is to look at expenses. This year we looked at health insurance to find the best deal for 30 some staff members. We look at all the overhead costs, office rental. In Madison we’re looking at moving to a smaller place that would be cheaper in the long term.
I’m working on a commercial for Special Olympics for a class. I’m going to tell my story and talk about how Special Olympics has touched my life. When you see that commercial, please pledge.
Also, my mother is a manager and she does fundraisers and training for people.
Denny – we know that all the agencies are out raising funds and supporting us locally. Other organizations throughout the state get together and do fundraising projects. Gordon and I got together to figure out what we could do to raise money on a local level
What kind of programs can we put together to build our athletes to be better individuals?
Denny – I think that being in Special Olympics like you are today can do that whether it’s physical fitness, working with your teammates, getting better at sports
The reason that I say that is that since I’ve been in the Shepards program I have learned how to be a better person and it’s very special.
Tom – you should all tell your friends about Special Olympics even if they do not have a cognitive disability
Can you help us get along with the referees?
Denny – I’ve played sports a lot and a lot of times those things happen, sometimes referees make mistakes like we do and we need to let it go and go on.
Gordon – another way to do that (solve the problem) is if a referee misses a call you can always tell your area sports coordinator.
Tom – How are we going to lead?
Athletes – by example
Tom – accept the fact that they’re human beings and they make mistakes and remember that it is a “game”. Set a good example for teammates and the other team.
We do a lot of sports, bowling, a couple of years ago I was in the Special Olympics newspaper, we do fundraisers and other stuff.
Is there any way we can get better training for the volunteers.
Gordon – yes there is. When we did the conference call on August 17
we are looking at better screening for volunteers. We don’t want the
trust to be broken between athletes and the volunteers.
Andrea – Head coaches need to receive training now where they didn’t
used to so you can be sure that your coaches know the rules of the games and
the Special Olympics rules and can help the athletes learn the game.
Tom – if you ever need to report a concern, please do.
Is there going to be any new sports?
Gordon – Yes, this year we are going to introduce cycling into the program.
We need money to buy brats, hot dogs and things for Special Olympics. We have to follow rules. We need more money to help kids.
Tom – the athletes are committed to helping
Gordon – we are looking at scaling back the food costs because it is expensive and sometimes they meals do not get eaten.
Denny: how many people think that we get the dormitory for free? how many people think that we get the meals for free? Registration fees help cover a small portion of the costs for those things. Our fees have not increased for ten years, but the costs for things like food and housing has. This year we will be increasing the fees to help offset this cost.
You know that food and housing is just part of those state games.
How can we raise more money for travel and gas?
Andrea – you can raise money for your agency through the polar plunge or participating in fundraisers like the Inside Wisconsin Sports.
Denny – there are other things too like the bowlathon
Is there anyway we can work with the dress codes?
Jeanne – I don’t think there is a (dress code) policy from Special Olympics, it must be from your agency.
I went into pizza hut and they said they would pay 133 athletes – Starbucks said they would not support the athletes. They have to support Shepards. I think that’s wrong they should send the money to the athletes and not Shepards.
Tom – some companies are reluctant to give to faith based organizations – Shepards might be a special case in this situation – we can talk more off line.
Jeanne – money raised in the name of Special Olympics needs to be spent on Special Olympics. The most important thing in fund raising is Donor Intent. The key thing is what is the Donor’s Intent and how can you meet that need
I have one more question for Denny regarding the ALPs program what could we try to get my workers in country kitchen to represent Special Olympics as the athletes. I’ve been in country kitchen in Platteville for ten years now. If I could get one of you guys…is there another way that I could get the support of Country Kitchen.
Denny – a long time ago country kitchen was a big supporter then, as I recall, they were sold and chose to no longer support Special Olympics.
Tom – what you should do is go to country kitchen with an agency manager and see if there is a way you can support your local agency.
Do you have questions that were not answered during the Questionable Questions session? If you do, send an e-mail to info@specialolympicswisconsin.org, check out the Message Board or call (800) 552-1324