More than 100 law enforcement officers carry the Special Olympics “Flame of Hope” through Jacksonville on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Chief Jonathan Barrier leads the way with the flame. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on April 23, 2024 at 4:23 pm
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It was a sea of red T-shirts on Tuesday as a crowd headed into the morning sun on East Bay Street behind the Special Olympics “Flame of Hope.”
Some 100-plus police officers and agents participated in the 41st annual Law Enforcement Torch Run, raising $3,300 to help get Jacksonville’s Special Olympians to the state Summer Games near Orlando in mid-May.
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Sales of T-shirts and other items show those athletes that law enforcement supports them as they prepare for the summer games. Tuesday’s run behind the torch, from the Sheriff’s Office to the Jacksonville Fairgrounds, means a lot to the men and women who will compete, says Cameron Pearson, Torch Run manager for the Special Olympics.
“Sometimes people get a little nervous when they see a big group of cops gathered at one place,” he said. “But it really is a good cause and a good thing, and the law enforcement all over the state is truly the guardians of the flame that carry the torch throughout the state.”
Special Olympics, celebrating its 51st anniversary nationally, provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for people with intellectual disabilities to help develop physical fitness and participate in competitive events.
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Between March 27 and mid-May, sheriff’s offices in all of Florida’s 67 counties — an estimated 5,000 officers statewide — join in on separate Torch Runs to fundraise for their local athletes headed to the summer games. That is a 1,500-mile relay, a tradition begun in 1981 in Florida. Since then, law enforcement officers statewide have raised about $1 billion for Special Olympics.
“It is pretty important,” Pearson said. “The Law Enforcement Torch Run is the largest grassroots fundraiser for Special Olympics, and we usually bring in the mid-$3 million for the athletes all over the state. There’s 300-plus agencies raising funds and awareness for the athletes.”
Jacksonville’s Torch Run started at the Sheriff’s Office. Officers from the local FBI office as well as Atlantic Beach Police Department and state Department of Corrections and Department of Law Enforcement joined as well. Their support is needed to help the athletes with travel expenses to the summer games, Pearson said.
“Today’s event is more than a run,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said before receiving the lit torch. “It is an opportunity for state and federal agencies to marshal together in support of the exceptional athletes who represent and participate in Special Olympics.”
Waters then handed the torch to Chief Jonathan Barrier to begin the run, which dashed to the Jacksonville Fairgrounds, followed by members of the Sheriff’s Office’s Mounted Patrol.
Clay County’s Torch Run is set for May 3 and Putnam County’s the next day. Nassau County joined Fernandina Beach police for its run April 12, as did Baker County’s.
