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motionball Edmonton came to Diamond Park Saturday for a Marathon of Sport to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics.
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Eighteen teams of four people participated in an amazing style event set up through the river valley where Special Olympic athletes would lead each of the challenge stations.
“It was pretty fun to see their personalities shine through when they were demonstrating the different events. I feel like I learned more about the athletes than I usually do and it was a lot of fun,’ said Karen Unger, volunteer event director for motionball Edmonton.
The goal for the event was to raise $40,000 for Special Olympics. The teams had to raise at least $600 in pledges to compete alongside the athletes and, at the end of the event, they had raised $36,346.
“Other than the very first event we planned in Edmonton this is the proudest I’ve ever been to write a giant cheque,” said Unger.
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Unger said the 10 Special Olympic athletes who participated Saturday are representative of the 49,000 Special Olympic athletes across Canada. The money raised goes towards making sure their in-person programs can return safely as soon as they’re allowed to.
While shy of the goal, Unger said that the link for donations will stay up for another two weeks at motionball.com/donate
motionball is a nationwide non-profit organization that brings together young professionals and Special Olympic athletes in fully integrated sporting and social events to connect the next generation to Special Olympic athletes, to raise awareness for the cause and fundraise for Special Olympics.
