2022 Sheetz Family Award of Excellence Winner: Brendan Rooker

Please help us in congratulating this year’s Sheetz Family Award of Excellence winner, Brendan Rooker from Lycoming County! 

The Sheetz Family Award of Excellence recognizes the athlete whose determination and effort can only be understood by the power of the human spirit to overcome obstacles and inspire greatness.

This year, despite training all season to compete in swimming, Brendan graciously offered to switch to basketball when he saw that his county would not be able to field a team without him. Despite not knowing much about the sport, Brendan trained hard, learned the game and supported his teammates in every possible way. His selflessness, dedication to his team and desire to always leave it out in the court is why Brendan was selected for this prestigious award.

Special thanks to Daillard Paris, Jr., Special Olympics Pennsylvania Board member and Director of Supply and Trading at Sheetz for presenting this award and for all he does to support our athletes!

Congratulations Brendan!

#InclusionRevolution

USA Games Flame of Hope Final Leg stops in Philadelphia

Yesterday, we had the honor of welcoming the Special Olympics USA Games Flame of Hope to Philadelphia as part of its journey from Chicago to Orlando on the 2022 Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg!

We were truly blown away by the pageantry of the Flame making its way up the historic steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and weaving through the streets of Fairmount to help energize our athletes for the upcoming competition in Florida. Two Special Olympics Pennsylvania athletes, David Miller & Trevor Ciampoli, along with members of the Philadelphia Police Department ran the leg with the national LETR team!

We also want to extend a special thank you to our incredible law enforcement partners from across the state for their unbelievable support as well as the City of Philadelphia Government, Councilmember Derek Green, School District of Philadelphia, Bank of America, City of Philadelphia Office of the City Representative, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, PHILADELPHIA250 and our Cities of Inclusion Board for making yesterday so wonderful.

2022 Bocce at the Ballpark!

On May 11th, C.C.A. Baldi Middle School, Louis Farrell Elementary and Bache-Martin School participated in the 2022 Unified Bocce at the Ballpark with the Philadelphia Phillies!

Unified sports pairs people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team! The Phillies’ front office staff came out to participate in the event, along with former Phillies Mickey Morandini and Milt Thompson and announcer Scott Graham! We can’t thank the Phillies enough for all of their support and energy and for cultivating such an inclusive atmosphere at Citizens Bank Park!

All photos courtesy of the Phillies.

To view the full photo album, follow this link: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQVAN
To watch a video recap of the event, follow this link: https://youtu.be/SZRRi7LLhSw

#UnifiedGeneration

Sheetz & Wawa team up to support PA Polar Pop!

Two of Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s biggest supporters — Sheetz and Wawa — have joined forces to help support the 2021 Polar Pop!

In a joyous and unexpected crossover, the two convenience store chains filmed a video to help promote the Pop and each CEO challenged the other to take the Polar Pop! To register for the Pop, visit http://www.papolarpop.org. Check out more from Sheetz and Wawa below:

The news made quite a splash in, well, the news as well as outlets across the state picked up the story. Here are the available links to check out:

ABC 27: http://bit.ly/3ttJXxx
6 ABC: https://6abc.cm/36HUIlZ
Times Herald: http://bit.ly/3tsTLYA
Philadelphia Inquirer: http://bit.ly/2YH5i8o
Daily Local: http://bit.ly/39Pl5si
Penn Live: http://bit.ly/3cHrGXh
Your Erie: http://bit.ly/3cHrYxl

Support Special Olympics at your local Wawa

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Stop by your local Wawa today and donate spare change to Wawa’s coin canisters or round-up to the nearest dollar at the register now through Feb. 21 to help support Special Olympics athletes!

Additionally, you can ask your Wawa associate to scan your donation now through Feb. 14 to help support Special Olympics Pennsylvania athletes in your community!

#InclusionRevolution