Team Minnesota Reaches New Heights Thanks to Area Corporations

Special Olympics Minnesota athletes will arrive at National Games via Airlift

MINNEAPOLIS, June 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Special Olympics Team Minnesota athletes will arrive at the 2010 USA National Games with soaring spirits thanks to the in-kind support of regional corporations as part of the 2010 Citation Special Olympics Airlift coordinated by Cessna Aircraft Company.

The 94 athletes comprising Team Minnesota will be among 2,000 total Special Olympics athletes scheduled to take part in the airlift, which departs July 17 and returns July 24. Use of the 18 Citation business jets transporting the Team Minnesota athletes has been donated by Allegis Corporation; Beef Products; Fagen, Inc.; Fortney Companies; General Mills; Goedken Consulting; Jostens; Musco Lighting; Perry Armstrong; Philmar LLC; Plastics Engineering; Regulatory Compliance Agency; Reinhart Real Estate; Schwan Food Company; Supervalu; Target; Townsend Vision and UltraAir. More than 325 total Citation jets are expected to participate in the airlift, with a Citation scheduled to land at Lincoln Municipal airport every 60-90 seconds over a 15-hour period.

"These eighteen corporations are providing not only a physical lift for our athletes but an emotional lift as well," said Dave Dorn, president of Special Olympics Minnesota. "Arriving at National Games as part of the Citation Special Olympics Airlift will be something these athletes always remember—it truly is the all-star treatment."

The 2010 USA National Games will be the largest sporting event held in the history of Nebraska. Organizers expect 3,500 athletes, 1,000 coaches, 8,000 volunteers and 15,000 family members and friends to gather in Lincoln and Omaha for the event, July 18–23, 2010. The National Games will highlight athletic competition, live entertainment and celebrity appearances, and will provide experiences that will generate memories for a lifetime. Athletes from all 50 states will compete in 12 sports: aquatics, bocce, basketball, bowling, golf, gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

The Team Minnesota athletes include sixteen track and field athletes; eight aquatic athletes; a male and female full-court basketball team; eight bowlers; eight golfers; two gymnasts; eight bocce athletes; a softball team and a volleyball team.

Special Olympics Minnesota offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round sports training and competition. Through Special Olympics' athletic, health and leadership programs, people with intellectual disabilities transform themselves, their communities and the world.

SOURCE Special Olympics Minnesota