Volunteers are the backbone of Special Olympics Pennsylvania. Without our volunteers, we’d never be able to provide competition, leadership, health and so many other opportunities to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout Pennsylvania.
Congratulations to Columbia Sportswear for being named our Volunteer of the Month for March 2024!
Columbia’s history with Special Olympics goes back to the beginning. Gert Boyle, the daughter of Columbia Sportswear’s creator, paired with Eunice Kennedy Shriver on many occasions. Boyle and Shriver respected each other on multiple levels, as well. From motherhood to inclusion, Special Olympics became their common thread. Since Boyle’s passing, Columbia has understood the importance of our partnership and giving everyone an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors.
At the 45th annual Special Olympics Pennsylvania Winter Games hosted at Seven Springs, Columbia handed out 300 free jackets, gloves and hats to competing athletes. Since receiving this amazing sportswear, we wanted to chat with Columbia’s volunteers that joined us at Winter Games and learn about their time with us.
Check out Columbia’s experience below and thank you for everything this winter!
Tell us about your experience at Winter Games! How was your time?
Tom Retzlaff, Senior Sales Analyst: “My experience at the 2024 Winter Games was a really positive experience. I came out of there with energy and vigor for volunteering for next year because of the experience that I saw the athletes have… I look forward to the competing factor. The most energy I got out of it was watching the athletes compete… While I did the [Unified snowshoe experience], there’d be an athlete who would like would stumble and fall, and everyone out there competing against them would stop, encourage them and help them along even though they had the opportunity to actually win the event. So, it was really a great experience for me to see how they participated and that they look forward to that annually. Absolutely.”
John Eaton, Strategic Account Executive: “I would say I thought the Opening Ceremony was really awesome. Typically, I’m always focused on athletic competition… If I have a chance of watching TV, it’s sports, right? I love athletic competition, but I thought the Opening Ceremony was really well thought out, and a great way to kick off the event and get everybody in the mindset of how awesome this event really is.”
Do you have any favorite memories from Winter Games?
Katrina Crutchfield, Strategic Account Executive: “I was able to stay for the award ceremony! I helped get the medals together for the athletes and saw them receive them. It was very rewarding for the athletes, and for me, to be able to actually watch them do their events on the slopes and then see them get their medal for those specific events.”
Rob Weletz, Strategic Account Executive: “For me, it was so rewarding to see how appreciative not only the athletes were, but also the friends, the family, the parents. When we were getting everyone geared up… It was just so rewarding to see how excited the athletes were and how appreciative they were with the coats, the hats and the gloves.”
Lindsay Ebken, Strategic Account Executive: “That was probably my most favorite part of being there was seeing the smiles on their face when they got their jackets and wanting to try them on. They would ask, ‘Can I run to the restroom to look and see what this looks like on me?!’ Everyone was so incredibly grateful for it… That was a key moment for sure… When Lynne and I were out by the snowshoe area and we went up [to the course] at the end, we watched every single team just stand and cheer each other on just to their fellow athletes to the finish line. That was probably the best feeling. It didn’t matter what team you were on. Everybody was standing there cheering them on… So, I think that that was another key part of being able to participate and watch that.”
The Columbia jackets, hats and gloves you handed out were incredible! Who chooses the designs and colors?
Lynne Smoker, Director Strategic Accounts: “You know, we knew that we needed 300 jackets, 300 pairs of gloves and 300 hats. We worked with some people in our corporate headquarters to help us make sure that the athletes had something that looked consistent; like a team kit or team uniform, so to speak. But we also didn’t want it to only be one choice from a color standpoint!… We thought the interchange jacket we provided on the men’s side and the two colors was a great choice because it had the fleece liner, which could be worn separately or with the shell. It’s a 3-in-1 jacket. You can wear it three different ways: The shell, the fleece or the shell with the fleece… On the women’s side, that Ava Alpine jacket, had an attached installation with heat reflective lining, which was on both jackets and is our warming technology. We went with styles that we felt could really help the athletes perform, but also look good if they just wanted to wear the jacket around the resort or around town once they got back home… The [Special Olympics Pennsylvania logo] embroidery that you all did after the fact just added so much. We loved seeing that embroidery on the jackets.”
John Eaton: “I would add to the embroidery too, the athletes loved receiving the gear, but they saw the embroidery on there and that made it their event. That made it their jacket. I think that the touch of the embroidery by SOPA, I mean, it just really put a cherry on top of that gear.”
How did it feel to see Special Olympics Pennsylvania athletes sporting the gear you handed out during competition time?
Tom Retzlaff: “I’ll speak to it in two parts. One, it was very satisfying to see a company I work for invest so much into helping the athletes… It came to life later when I was looking at the website and the pictures out there. I think there are, like, 700 photographs of the events. It was amazing to see when you went backwards in time to look at those pictures and understand how many athletes were wearing our product during the Opening Ceremony, after we’d spent a few hours handing it out. They chose those jackets over the ones that they brought, not knowing that they’re getting jackets to wear. Second, seeing the athletes as they competed throughout the next couple of days, wearing the jackets that we provided to keep them warm. We’d gotten some fresh snow; it was chilly, and it was usable product. The headwear that they wore, the gloves that they had on and the jackets they received… It was a proud moment. It was really great.”
Why does partnering up with Special Olympics Pennsylvania resonate with your team?
Lynne Smoker: “One of the reasons why we started this conversation with Andrew Fee to begin with originated from a conversation that I had with Melissa Christian, who is on the Special Olympics Pennsylvania board. She is one of our partners that we work with at DICK’s Sporting Goods. She mentioned Special Olympics Pennsylvania to us after reading one of the books that was written by our company’s founder and our former chairperson, the late Gert Boyle, and the Boyle family. We are a family business here at Columbia. Gert’s son, Tim and her grandson, Joe, are still running the business. Years ago, Gert was very involved in Special Olympics… She was a contemporary of Eunice Shriver’s, and was very dedicated to the mission of Special Olympics… I would say for me, it was our company’s historical connection and relationship with Special Olympics that really started the ball rolling and made this something that I personally wanted to follow up on and see where it could go…”
Rob Weletz: “It’s also a core mission of Columbia to help everyone participate in the outdoors and keep people outside. Columbia is for everyone, and we strive to be inclusive. That really tailors into this event as well.”
Lynne Smoker: “Our brand’s mission statement literally is: ‘Help us unlock the outdoors for everyone.’ To Rob’s point, Special Olympics really aligns with one of our core values.”
What advice do you have for any future volunteers?
John Eaton: “My advice would be to do it… I also found how you want to volunteer is up to you, and to the level of commitment that you want to provide is welcomed. Any volunteer help is welcomed. That’s my advice.”
Tom Retzlaff: “This was my first time volunteering with Special Olympics Pennsylvania. What I found is, if you put a little in, you get a little out. The more effort I put into it, the more I got out of it… I think there’s that level of commitment then can really pay off individually. The volunteers I worked with on the snowshoe event were amazing to see. It was amazing to see the high school kids there, how they got them involved and were helping for their schools. Getting them involved in it was certainly a plus…”
Katrina Crutchfield: “It was also rewarding when we got to sit with them during the meals, just chat with them casually, find out what their interests are and what they were looking forward to for those few days. And, of course, a lot of them were excited about the dance.”
