Unsung Hero and Torch Run Director’s Award Winners Also Honored
Raleigh, N.C. — The North Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics recently presented state-level awards to outstanding individuals and law enforcement agencies that support Special Olympics in North Carolina, at the 2012 Torch Run Kickoff Conferences in Raleigh and Hickory, according to Bill Frick, director of the Torch Run and retired detective with the Chapel Hill Police Dept.
Corporal Cindy Martin of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and Officer Claudia Morgan of the Winston-Salem Police Department were inducted into the 2012 North Carolina Torch Run Hall of Fame. The two were honored for many years of dedicated service to the Torch Run and Special Olympics.
The North Carolina Torch Run Hall of Fame was established to recognize individuals who have achieved a new level of fundraising and awareness of Special Olympics North Carolina through the Law Enforcement Torch Run
Corporal Cindy Martin of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office has been involved with the Torch Run for more than 10 years when she volunteered to help with her agency’s inaugural Polar Plunge. Due in part to her efforts, this agency has raised over $250,000 for Special Olympics athletes over the past four years. Since taking over as the director of her agency’s Polar Plunge, the event has grown every year in both participants and fundraising and is consistently one of the top Torch Run special events in the state. Her dedication to improving this event is evident in the work she puts in recruiting sponsors. Martin is also one of two law enforcement contacts for her Special Olympics local coordinator and regularly schedules law enforcement volunteers at local and state-level Special Olympics competitions in the area in addition to volunteering during the events herself.
Officer Claudia Morgan of the Winston-Salem Police Department has served as her department’s Torch Run coordinator for five years. Not only does she serve as coordinator, but she also mentors other Torch Run coordinators in surrounding agencies, serves on the Torch Run statewide committee and works as a coach for her county’s Special Olympics program. She has been involved with Special Olympics for about 20 years. In the five years under her direction, her agency has been a regular in the top five Torch Run fundraising agencies in the state, raising more than $30,000 each year through events such as a Polar Plunge, a hockey game, dunking booth, and Cops-on-Top building sit.
Law Enforcement officers and agencies were also honored at the Conferences with the Torch Run Director’s awards and the Bill Dalton Unsung Hero Award for their Torch Run efforts.
Sergeant Lester Lowe of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office was honored with the Bill Dalton Unsung Hero Award for his unheralded but effective contributions to the Torch Run and Special Olympics in spirit, dedication and enthusiasm. Lowe started participating in the Torch Run 17 years ago at the request of the late Sergeant Bill Dalton. Lowe has served as the Torch Run Coordinator for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office since 2008. He has increased the Sherriff’s Office’s Torch Run involvement tremendously during his time as coordinator. He’s encouraged his School Resource Officers and other Sheriff’s Office employees to collect donations for T-shirts and volunteer at fundraisers such as Tip-a-Cop breakfasts, a Red Robin Tip-a-Cop event, a motorcycle ride and an annual basketball game. He also helps to coordinate law enforcement volunteers for the Special Olympics Cumberland County Spring Games. He was also recently named to the statewide NC Torch Run Committee this year.
Goldsboro Police Department was honored with the Torch Run Director’s Award for their significant efforts within the Torch Run. The Police Department experienced a fundraising growth of more than $19,000 in one year which was by far the best growth of any Torch Run Agency from 2010 to 2011 in both dollars raised and percentage increase. The efforts of the Goldsboro Police Department’s Torch Run Co-coordinators Investigator Dwayne Bevell and Investigator Dale Foster were very effective. In addition to donations collected for T-shirts, this agency hosted multiple special events and participated in a variety of fundraisers.
The Landis Police Department was also honored with the Torch Run Director’s Award for their Torch Run efforts The Landis PD, under the direction of coordinator Sergeant Don Silardi, operates in a very small community of just more than 3,000 residents and yet in two years the department has raised more than $20,000 for the Torch Run. Donations for T-shirts, a successful golf tournament and recruiting a statewide Torch Run sponsor from Landis Public Power has allowed the Landis PD to be so successful.
“The hard work and fundraising efforts of the Law Enforcement Torch Run officers allows us to provide first class sports training, competition, and development for our athletes and volunteers,” said Keith L. Fishburne, president/CEO of Special Olympics North Carolina. “These individuals have made an immeasurable impact on our organization. Their efforts have helped make Special Olympics North Carolina one of the best sports programs in the world.”
To obtain a photo of any of the NC Torch Run award winners, please contact, Megan O’Donnell, Special Olympics NC vice president of communications, at 919-818-4598 or download a photo from the SONC Flickr page.
To learn more about the LETR efforts in your area, contact Jamie Vaughn, vice president for the Torch Run, at 1-800-843-6276 ext. 123. (NC Only)
The North Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run is a year-long effort to raise funds for Special Olympics North Carolina. Officers run a 16-day relay passing the Flame of Hope across the state. The relay culminates in the lighting of the cauldron to begin the SONC Summer Games. The Torch Run has raised more than $14 million for SONC since the late 1980’s. Special Olympics North Carolina provides year-round sports training and competition for more than 38,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics North Carolina is one of the largest Special Olympics programs in the world.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is officially endorsed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriff’s Association, the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association, the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, the National Association of School Resource Officers, the NC Association of School Resource Officers, the NC Department of Justice and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
