[Press Release] : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: PSJC/OEM Director Schwartze will participate in Special Olympics World Summer Games Torch Run

[Press Releases]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Zim Schwartze, Director
Public Safety Joint Communications
Office of Emergency Management 
(573) 874-7400


PSJC/OEM Director Schwartze will participate in Special Olympics World Summer Games Torch Run

COLUMBIA, MO (June 1, 2011) - Public Safety Joint Communications and Office of Emergency Management Director Zim Schwartze will soon depart for Athens, Greece, to participate in the Flame of Hope for Special Olympics World Summer Games Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) Final Leg June 9-25.

The LETR Final Leg Team consists of 145 international members, which includes 101 law enforcement officer runners, 10 Special Olympics athletes and support personnel. They will serve as "Guardians of the Flame." The Flame of Hope is lit before the World Games and passes through all host towns to honor the spirit of the Special Olympics global movement. Ceremonies will be held throughout Greece.

Schwartze was chosen from law enforcement officers across the state of Missouri for her years of work with Special Olympics. She has been involved with fundraising, events and education about Special Olympics since the early 1990s when she became a police officer in Columbia.

"I am truly honored to have been chosen as the Missouri delegate to carry the Flame of Hope in Greece. It is so important that law enforcement officers continue to spread the word about our Special Olympics athletes and promote respect, acceptance and inclusion for those with intellectual disabilities," Schwartze stated. 

The LETR, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, is the movement's largest grass-roots fundraiser and public relations vehicle for Special Olympics. More than 85,000 international law enforcement officers have carried the Flame of Hope for Special Olympics opening ceremonies.

>From June 25 to July 4 in Athens, 7,500 Special Olympics athletes from 185 nations will compete in 22 Olympic-type sports during the World Summer Games.


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