Residents, businesses, community groups, and others can now directly support the athletes coming to the 2027 Special Olympics Ontario Provincial Winter Games in North Bay.
Officials have launched the ‘Draft an Athlete’ program, with 300 from across Ontario expected to compete locally during the games.
“$500 is approximately what it would cost to bring an athlete to the games,” says Constable Merv Shantz, Games Manager. “That includes transportation, meals and lodging.”
He says they’ve raised about 60% of their overall goal to host the games, and this campaign will help them get there.
“We’re very happy with the level of support from the community,” says Shantz. “With the 300 athletes that we have coming to the games, at $500 each, that’s $175,000 which will put us very close to our end goal of $535,000.”
Visit the website provincialgames.com to get involved.
The games, including alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, curling and snowshoeing, take place at the end of Jan. 2027.
Athletes will be competing for a chance to qualify for the 2028 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Kelowna, British Columbia.
