This 5K event is produced by the St. Peter Chanel Knights of Columbus Council 13217 of Roswell, GA. The event is presented for the benefit of the Special Olympics Georgia, a non-profit organization dedicated to offering training and competition for people with intellectual disabilities, and to other charities supported by the Knights of Columbus Council #13217.
The mission of the Georgia Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for all children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. Our goal is to help bring persons with intellectual disabilities into the larger society under conditions whereby they are accepted, respected, and given the chance to become useful and productive citizens. When we achieve this goal through our sports program, we demonstrate that Special Olympics has a unique value: to show the world that every person counts and that every person can be something good when we work together. Special Olympics Georgia invests in people with intellectual disabilities, helping them to develop athletic skills, while also promoting the abilities of the athletes off the field. When our athletes succeed, attitudes change, communities develop, health and self-esteem are built, and the eyes of the world are focused on all that is good and hopeful and positive. Athletes gain skills for employment, learn independent living skills, form relationships and help others understand their extraordinary capabilities despite health issues they experience daily.