Special Olympians and their supporters observed the 45th anniversary of the program during a ceremony at the Capitol Monday.
2014 USA Olympic bobsledder and Kentucky native Dallas Robinson was just one of many guests attending the rally in support of the sports program for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Kentucky Special Olympics president Trish Mazzoni said, over the program’s four and half decades, it’s grown to support more than 7,000 athletes - and a House bill currently under consideration could bump those numbers higher.
"We have a presence is every community throughout this state. We currently receive no state funding at all to help our efforts," she said. "The passage of House Bill 178 would be wonderful. It would open up a new revenue stream for us to help us to grow what we're currently doing."
It would do that by allowing Kentuckians to support Special Olympics by checking off a box on their state tax return forms. Set to benefit are athletes, such as Lexington’s Morgan Turner.
"It's meant a lot. I get to travel all around Kentucky and make new friends. It's just been great," he said.
Four Kentucky Special Olympics athletes will compete as part of Team USA at the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles.
