Parker named Special Olympics North Carolina Coordinator of the Year
As the old African proverb goes, “it takes a village.”
And when newly-retired Peachtree Elementary School teacher Susanne Parker found out that she was named the Special Olympics North Carolina Coordinator of the Year, one of the first things she thought about was that “village” – Cherokee County.
“I am very honored. It does mean a lot,” Parker, who has been the Cherokee County coordinator for more than 12 years, said of the award. “It’s something that I put my heart and a lot of time into. But it also brings recognition to our small county. And for a small county like we are, we offer five sports and at times we’ve offered more than that.
“The support that I get here from parents of athletes, from the community and from businesses, it’s also recognition for them and there efforts, which are greatly appreciated,” Parker continued. “The last few years we’ve been able to raise $15 thousand and a huge part of that has been the local businesses. It’s a group effort.”
Parker first got involved in the Special Olympics program back in the mid-1970s when she was attending college as an education major.
“I was an education major so there were opportunities to volunteer,” Parker said. “And one of them was Special Olympics. And so once I started it was just something that I got a lot of joy from and felt like I was giving back. And you get so much back in return.”
Special Olympics programs, which provide opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities to participate in athletic competitions, have increased in size and see more support over the past decades as support and acceptance of those with disabilities has grown, Parker said.
“The biggest change has been the continued support from the Kennedy family,” Parker said of the increase in support that Special Olympics has seen nation-wide over the past few decades.
“Eunice Kennedy Shriver is the one who started this whole program and her whole family supports this. And just like with the Paralympics, which has also expanded, I think people have become more understanding of disabilities and are not shunning people anymore and putting them aside. Everybody has value.”
“It gives these athletes the opportunity to showcase their talents and to get out and socialize with each other,” Parker said of why Special Olympics is important for intellectually disabled persons. “And with that, it allows them to be engaged with the community. I think it provides the opportunity for people to see that everyone has value and that everyone can attain lots of goals that maybe people didn’t think that they could.”
For anyone interested in learning more about the Special Olympics program in Cherokee County or looking to volunteer, more information can be found online at www.SONC.net or you can reach out to Parker at (828)-557-0869.