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 Doug Jacobs, from Area P (Pike County), for being named our Volunteer of the Month for September 2024!
Doug, a person dedicated to betterment, thrives off support from family, friends, teammates, and community. From the beginning of his Special Olympics Pennsylvania journey, Doug saw the potential in each athlete that walked through his programs, including his son Nathan. Even when life hit the inevitable rough patches, Doug knew that no matter what, Special Olympics would be there for him and his family.
Despite a few health scares within the last four years, Doug has shown up and will continue to show up to be a Unified Partner, coach, volunteer, dad, husband, grandpa, and dedicated community member.
We were extremely honored to sit down with Doug and learn more about his history with Special Olympics Pennsylvania, what it’s like to compete alongside his son, chat about the camaraderie and focus his teams put forth, and more. Thank you for all that you do and choosing to give back alongside Special Olympics Pennsylvania, Doug. We’re so grateful for your support and dedication.
“I’ve been involved with Special Olympics Pennsylvania for probably a little more than 20 years, before Unified Partner was introduced.
I kind of tagged along with my wife because she was involved first. I really should have my wife, Sue Ann, sitting next to me because we’re a team. I’ve been married to my wife for 46 years, and together for six years before that. We started way back, 14 and 15 years old. I had to wait until I got my driver’s license, so my parents didn’t have to drive me to her house…
But she was initially a swimming coach, so the first time they went to Summer Games at Penn State, they wanted a male volunteer to keep an eye on the guys and straighten them out. So, I went to help with the pool area and other things in regard to swimming, helped take care of the male athletes and did that for a couple years.
After that, we started a program, me and my son Nathan, who’s involved with Special Olympics as an athlete. It was in high school that he started to be interested in skiing. I skied since I was a kid, so we created a ski program for the high school kids and the adult Special Olympics athletes in the community.
I ran that ski program up until about two or three years ago because, unfortunately, I got COVID really, really bad when it first came out. I’ve lost the circulation in my hands and feet, so I can’t ski anymore… It’s really sad because it got to a point where no one was helping with the program anymore. So, every year, my son will ask me, ‘Do you think you’ll feel better this year?’
But the skiing was great! We did it for about 15 years. I took athletes that had never skied before and because I was really involved in skiing, I could ski backwards, use the reins, do whatever I needed to do to teach them. It got to a point where we had about 15 skiers that competed in Winter Games in the west, the ski area I grew up on… It’s a much bigger ski area than what I grew up on and added to it quite a bit, but it was neat to be out there with the athletes.
Again, because what happened to me, it’s unfortunate. I’m going to be 68, and the other people I worked with, they’re older than me. I was one of the only ones left in that program. But it was rewarding. It got to a point where they would race, they could go down black diamonds. It was unbelievable.
I had a good friend in Special Olympics that was doing golf, coaching it. Our son and his son are best buddies, and Nathan switched from swimming to golf. So, I started coaching a golf team along with him and unfortunately, he passed away last year, so he couldn’t even golf the last years. I took over the league, so I’m the only one who coaches the golf team now.
Golf was probably one of my first experiences as a Unified Partner. It wasn’t called that at the time, but my son and I started golfing. It’s alternating shots, and that was a heck of a lot of fun… I played golf all my life, so I can carry us some… Nathan loves it. He doesn’t care what the score is, he really likes it… One of his other loves is the Mets!
About 15 years ago, the bocce program was established in our area and Nathan played bocce. So, eventually, Nathan and I started playing Unified bocce. It’s been great. He’s a really, really good bocce player, and he gets to say he carries me in bocce. We were fortunate enough in 2018 to go to nationals in Seattle. We had a blast and did fairly well out there. We earned a silver medal together…
My daughter and her husband lived in Seattle because her husband is a commander in the Navy submarines. He was stationed outside of Seattle at the time so their family could come watch their uncle and grandpa compete in national bocce.
We actually got selected in 2022 to compete in Orlando, but I couldn’t go because I was having a kidney transplant…
Nathan and I also bowl. We did that for a number of years as Unified Partners. Since then, you know, I’ve had trouble with my hands, so we then created two four-person teams. Nathan loves every sport he’s involved in. His whole social life is Special Olympics.
It’s a labor of love doing Special Olympics… It’s just what you do. We’re very much people in our community that are active in our church, very active in all sorts of things, and we’re older. When I got COVID, I was unconscious and almost didn’t make it. That’s caused some health issues since then, resulting in my kidneys failing. Then, someone from my church gave me a kidney in 2022 and that’s how I got the kidney transplant.
Just recently, with the golf program, it’s gotten harder and harder because I’ve had some heart issues. About six weeks ago, I got what’s called an aortic valve replacement and I went from barely walking to three blocks without puffing to feeling like I’m under 60 again!
I was so concerned I was going to have to cancel golf next year. I told them at the end of this last year I didn’t know what next summer was going to look like. I’m confident I can keep doing what I’m doing.
With Special Olympics, the thing that’s different [than traditional sports], everyone seems to have a good time. I mean, as long as you promote that. We had some occasions, and you can ask my wife, we had swimmers where if they didn’t win or get a medal, they would throw their ribbon away or not get near the ceremony. We wouldn’t let them do that. We wanted them to be involved fully.
Nathan is what’s called, ‘developmentally delayed.’ He looks like your typical 35-year-old guy. But when he starts talking to you, you’ll realize he doesn’t have the intellect of someone that age. But Nathan, he is one happy guy and has so much empathy. If someone on the team is upset, he’ll put his arm around his teammates or if someone’s crying, he’ll help them. We are just blessed with one of the nicest sons you could ever ask for.
We’re working really hard because with the health issues I’ve had… We’ve realized we’re not always going to be here. We’ve been working really hard with Nathan to make sure he’s independent… We’ve rented a small apartment for Nathan, and for two years we’ve spent a few hours there a week to get used to the place. Over time, we moved his own furniture there and wanted to get him to a point where he could stay there on his own.
He has people that will come to hang out with him, and he has a job four days a week at the county building. He spends nights there Monday through Thursday… Now, he has a couple people stay with him from time to time. It looks like he’s going to be completely independent with some help. But it can be hard to let go.
There’s an obligation for the next generation to keep up what’s been created. My advice for future volunteers is… You get so much more out of it than you put in if you take this seriously. If you immerse yourself in what you’re doing, you’ll find success… Also, you don’t need to be afraid of it.”
