Special Olympics Alberta
12122 68 St NW T5B 1R1 Edmonton, AB, Canada

Special Olympics Alberta athlete & coach Marcelle Morin is taking the Walk the World with Me challenge and motivating others along the way! As an already avid ...walker, Marcelle decided to take on the challenge in the hopes that she could motivate others to get out and walk. I’ll help anyone any age, gender, race, disability to find ways of getting around for movement or exercise." Read all about Marcelle's story by visiting https://walktheworldwithme.com/inspiring-others-to-stay-ac/!

As we start a New Year, we can’t thank our National Partners enough. Each and every one of them showed amazing support and commitment to Special Olympics throug...hout 2020. They remained steadfast not only in their usual support, like cheering on athletes at the National Games at the start of the year, but also when the pandemic hit. Thank you for moving your support online and responding Challenge Accepted! with us! We couldn’t have got through this year without you. Thank you Sport Canada, Sobeys, Tim Hortons, motionball, Law Enforcement Torch Run, Home Hardware, Building Centre & Furniture Stores, Wolseley Canada Inc., Postmedia, The Slaight Family Foundation, Bain & Company, TSN, Grey Group, Special Olympics Canada Foundation, The Annual Foundation, Samuel Family Foundation, The Harry "Red" Foster Foundation, Signature Authentics, The Globe and Mail, Coca-Cola Canada, kubik, JYSK Bed Bath Home, Canadian Progress Club, Lifemark, creospark and Valo Intranet. -- L’année 2020 tire à sa fin et nous sommes infiniment reconnaissants à nos partenaires nationaux. Chacun d’entre eux a fait preuve d’un soutien et d’un dévouement extraordinaires envers Olympiques spéciaux tout au long de l’année. Ils sont restés fidèles tant en nous prêtant leur soutien habituel, comme en encourageant les athlètes aux Jeux nationaux plus tôt cette année, qu’en nous aidant à traverser la pandémie. Merci d’être passés en mode virtuel avec nous et d’avoir répondu défi accepté ! Les derniers mois n’auraient pas été les mêmes sans vous. Merci Sport Canada - Français, Sobeys, Tim Hortons, motionball, Law Enforcement Torch Run, Home Hardware, Wolseley Canada Inc., Postmedia, The Slaight Family Foundation, Bain & Company, TSN, Grey Group, Special Olympics Canada Foundation, The Annual Foundation, Samuel Family Foundation, The Harry "Red" Foster Foundation, Signature Authentics, The Globe and Mail, Coca-Cola Canada, kubik, JYSK Bed Bath Home, Canadian Progress Club, Lifemark, creospark and Valo Intranet.

Happy Holidays from Special Olympics Alberta - https://mailchi.mp/specialolympics.ab.ca/happy-holidays-2020

In the holiday spirit we wanted to share some of the amazing artwork that was submitted to our annual card contest. For the next 12 days we plan to spotlight our athlete's incredible talents. Submitted by: Steven Thackray

Happy Holidays from Special Olympics to you! Help spread some holiday cheer by purchasing 50/50 tickets for your chance to win big while supporting our incredible athletes across Alberta! License #569685. Benefiting Special Olympics Alberta. 7,113 tickets printed. Tickets on sale until Dec 22, 2020. Draw at 1:00 PM on Dec 24, 2020, at 4623 65 St NW, Camrose, AB. Tickets can only be purchased within Alberta. Prize awarded will be 50% of tickets purchased. Call on dasher, dance...r, and all the other reindeer and click the link below to purchase your tickets by Dec. 22! www.soa5050.ca

An amazing opportunity from our friends at The Enhance Lab! This is a great program for athletes that are looking for methods to help reduce stress. If you are interested use the information below to get involved!

Happy New Year from Special Olympics Alberta to all of you! 2020 was a challenging year for all of us, but together we made some incredible memories from howling in Thunder Bay to reaching our PEAK. Bring on 2021 because together we can achieve anything!

Effective November 13, 2020, multiple health zones within the province enacted enhanced health measures. Since that time, COVID-19 numbers continue to rise within the province with increased instances of community spread and cases of unknown origin. That combined with the vulnerability of our Special Olympics athletes and their families, we have made the decision to take action to ensure our membership and their families remain safe and healthy. Effective immediately, all in...-person programs are suspended until January 11, 2021. The decision to suspend programs was made because of the escalating number of cases in our province. This decision is not a reflection of the outstanding work and diligence of our programs who successfully returned to sport. I want to sincerely thank the leadership volunteers from these affiliates and community programs who followed protocols meticulously and ensured there was no COVID spread among our Special Olympics athletes and volunteers. We have to act now to do our part to ensure the safety of our members and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 within our communities. Our approach throughout the pandemic was to be the organization that gets criticized because we were too conservative, not the one that opened too fast or didn’t pause fast enough if cases escalated. The current environment is extremely concerning and we will take an abundance of caution around protecting the health of our athletes and volunteers. We acknowledge that social distancing is very difficult for many, especially our athletes who struggle with not being able to meet with their friends and the volunteers who they have a close bond with. In the lead up to the Holiday Season we are going to be launching several new virtual social initiatives to connect our members and have some much needed fun. We will also encourage athletes to sign up for the final weeks of PEAK and get ready for info on the Winter 2021 edition. Visit here for more info: https://www1.specialolympics.ab.ca/get-involv/peak-program/. Another great source of information is the Healthy at Home newsletter which can be signed up for here: https://mailchi.mp/specialolympics.ab.ca/healthyathome As dark as it seems now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It will take time and patience, but we will get through this together. Please stay safe everyone. Johnny Byrne CEO

Join us from 7-8 PM MT tonight for our last Workout Wednesdays of 2020. This session will take place LIVE from our SOA PEAK Program Facebook Group. This week's facilitator is Ektelo Athletics Owner, Lindsay Smith.

As Week 5 begins we are over halfway to the PEAK! This week’s newsletter includes: #ReachYourPEAKab website is back! SOA Awards RSVP Holiday Card Challenge ... Max Mondays Workout Wednesday Q&A Bonus Session & More Subscribe to stay up-to-date with all things PEAK! - https://mailchi.mp/specialolympics.ab.ca/healthy-at-home-32

If you missed the #SOAAwards you’re in luck! The full ceremony is now available on our YouTube! Thank you to our awesome host Rob Williams, our honorable guests and dignitaries, Special Olympics champion presenters, sponsors, volunteers, and all of you for joining us! Congratulations again to all of our winners!... https://youtu.be/YmMXFFLLcVU

A champion that continues to go above and beyond to support the Special Olympics movement here in Alberta. We were honoured to have you host the #SOAAwards and you absolutely crushed it. Thank you, @1RobWilliams!

Social Club with motionball Calgary & motionball Edmonton is back TOMORROW at 5 PM MT for our second holiday edition! Come hang out with your fellow Special Olympics pals and motionball gurus for the best event on Wednesday nights in December! Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us//tZEuf-6tqjksGd2JyoX-MqSVzC58j-uiP

Are you ready for another The Highlight Reel: Live? Join TSN/BarDown’s Jesse Pollock on Tuesday November 24 at 7PM ET on Facebook LIVE! Jesse will be joined by ...Special Olympics Newfoundland & Labrador cross-country skier, Michael Budden (featured in Episode 5 of The Highlight Reel), and his coach Rosemary Ryan. Tune in NEXT TUESDAY to hear more about their Special Olympics stories and how they’re staying connected and healthy during the pandemic. --- Prêts pour une nouvelle émission de Moments marquants : en direct? Joignez-vous à Jesse Pollock, animateur de TSN/BarDown, le mardi 24 novembre à 19 h (HE) en Facebook LIVE! Jesse sera accompagné du skieur de fond d’Olympiques spéciaux Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador Michael Budden (présenté dans l’épisode 5 de Moments marquants) et de son entraîneuse Rosemary Ryan. Soyez des nôtres MARDI/DEMAIN/CE SOIR pour entendre leurs histoires d’Olympiques spéciaux et savoir comment ils réussissent à garder le contact et à rester en santé durant la pandémie.

Who is a Santa's favourite singer? Elf-is Presley! We invite all Special Olympics athletes to join us for Deck Your Walls Ball - a virtual holiday dance on December 11, 2020 at 7 PM MT LIVE on Zoom. We are asking you to wear your best semi-formal attire, decorate your "walls" or Zoom backgrounds to match the holiday spirit (no flashing lights), and celebrate the holiday season with DJ Paul.... For athletes registered in the PEAK Program, if you attend the dance you will receive 100 points towards your total! Register in advance to be on Santa's nice list: https://bit.ly/2J4U49y

What an incredible night! Thank you everyone who joined us for the #SOAAwards Congratulations to all of our winners and a huge thank you to all the sponsors, presenters, and the SO community for making it happen. Share your awards night selfie with us using #SOAAwards

The #SOAAwards Zoom lobby will open in 15 minutes and the show will begin promptly at 7:30 PM MT! We cannot wait to celebrate with YOU - see you soon!

Only 3 days remain to purchase your 50/50 tickets, so take a shot and grab yours today! This draw will benefit Special Olympics Alberta and athletes in our Zone 4 communities: - Red Deer... - Wetaskiwin - Lacombe 7,113 tickets printed. Tickets on sale until Nov. 27, 2020. Draw at 1:00 PM on Nov. 30, 2020, at 3, 12122 68 St NW, Edmonton, AB. Tickets can only be purchased within Alberta. Prize awarded will be 50% of tickets purchased. soa5050.ca

Join us tonight from 7-8 PM MT here in the SOA PEAK Program group for the last Max Monday of 2020! Frank van den Berg is back to lead us in what promises to be another amazing session!

Tonight is the night! Zoom access will begin at 7:15 and the show will begin at 7:30 PM MT! There is still time to RSVP to join us and our special guest host @1RobWilliams for the celebration of the year! https://bit.ly/2H5fiTV

Max Mondays are back tonight from 7-8 pm MT with Frank van den Berg, Mental Performance Lead at the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary. Frank will be with us for our final three Max Monday sessions, so join us tonight for our final push the the PEAK!

We are almost at the PEAK and our H@H newsletter features exciting virtual holiday events: Deck Your Walls Ball Home for the Holidays Holiday Card Challenge... Max Mondays Workout Wednesday & More Subscribe to stay up-to-date with all things PEAK! - https://mailchi.mp/specialolympics.ab.ca/healthy-at-home-35

Thanks to everyone who attended the #SOAAwards - The full ceremony will be shared on our YouTube tomorrow, so stay tuned. We wanted to share the winners of the #SOAAwards ceremony random draw for virtual tickets to the Champions documentary! Darby Taylor and Danielle Gauld

Amazing host Awesome presenters Exceptional winners Wonderful supporters Incredible Special Olympics community ... Join us to celebrate the people who make Special Olympics Alberta great on November 19! RSVP here: https://bit.ly/2H5fiTV

How do meteorologists go up a mountain? They climate! Week 6 of #ReachYourPEAK includes: Holiday Card Challenge Max Mondays Workout Wednesday... Zumba Bonus Session & More Subscribe to stay up-to-date with all things PEAK! - https://mailchi.mp/specialolympics.ab.ca/healthy-at-home-33

Workout Wednesdays are a guided strength workout that will take place LIVE from 7-8 PM MT. Join Special Olympics Alberta - Calgary coach and volunteer, Lois Ross tonight in the SOA PEAK Program FB group! #ReachYourPEAKab