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 Laura Davis, from Columbia/Montour Counties, for being named our Volunteer of the Month for November 2024!
Laura has many passions in her life, and she can confidently say that two of them are her family and Special Olympics Pennsylvania.
Special Olympics became a constant in Laura’s life after a skiing event, and since then, she’s witnessed the uplifting and positive impacts her teams have had on not only her life, but her family’s.
Laura has seen herself in almost every role Special Olympics Pennsylvania has to offer, yet she still finds new ways to bring fun and light to practices and events. To Laura, this organization is about more than competing. It’s about relationships, bonding with people who are always there for you, being a shoulder to lean on during tough times, and taking steps towards a healthier lifestyle.
To celebrate Laura as the Volunteer of the Month, we had the opportunity to learn more about her roots, her motivation as a volunteer, and her favorite parts about being a member of the Special Olympics Pennsylvania community.
Thank you for your dedication and positivity, Laura. Your legacy shines through Special Olympics Pennsylvania, and we can’t wait to see what’s to come.
“When I was in grad school, one of my roommates was a volunteer for the sectional event at Seven Springs [Ski Resort] for skiing, and I like to ski. So, I went and helped that weekend and started helping all the time when I lived in the western part of the state.
Then, I moved to Bloomsburg for a job, and somebody saw in the paper that they were starting a program in 1990. I started and I’m still the only person on the original management team from when we started the program here. This is my 40th year…
I’m an assistant coach for basketball, track, swimming. I’m a head coach for snowshoeing. Bocce, I’m on the sports management team and an official and assistant coach. Bowling, I’m an assistant coach. Pretty much an assistant coach for all sports except snowshoeing. I get trained in these so if the head coach can’t go, you know, the athletes have an opportunity to go.
I still do what I do after 40 years because it’s fun… You just have to have fun and like what you’re doing. There are all kinds of organizations that people can volunteer at, and everybody has their favorite, and [Special Olympics Pennsylvania] is mine. I’ve given up other things because I don’t want to give up Special Olympics. I’ve made great friends, and I have a great time.
Actually, my most favorite recent thing is, we have an athlete, Luke, who I actually went to Summer Games with for swimming. We had a hot date; my husband, his worker, Debbie, and Andrea, we went to have hot dogs in Sunbury because Luke kept telling me about his favorite place. So, [Special Olympics Pennsylvania] is just fun to me. It’s my escape from all the stress in my life and my world. It’s just going to have a good time.
We’re doing our walking clubs still and one of my friends who I invited said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?’ And then, I have another friend who, we had an invitational last summer… Where a couple of my friends volunteered, and one of them stayed as a volunteer. She went away from it saying, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so fun.’
I’m going to equate it to being a rockstar. Seriously, because, for instance, I was at the Philadelphia Zoo and I looked at this guy and said, ‘I know you… Bocce.’ And he’s like, ‘Yes.’ So, you recognize them. You see people, and there’s not a lot of negativity. Everyone is happy to be there competing and doing their best.
It was suggested to us that we start a walking club, so we started doing it. We did it for a while before the mall closed. Andrea, one of our athletes, had a pool pass this summer, and I had a pool pass. Her dad was really sick this summer, so I had her a couple of times. We went down to the pool and walked around, and she loved doing it. And I said, ‘You know what, what do you think about doing this as walking club?’ It was too hot in the summer, so she was like, ‘Yes.’
The pool got started with Andrea and I walking, and now everybody’s upset that we’re taking December off. We do walking club or track every Wednesday year-round. This club just kept growing, so now we have community people that come, athletes come, and sometimes we get the workers to walk with us, too.
We don’t just walk, we do some stretching, balancing, and some games. This week, we’re going to do Christmas cards to take to the nursing home. One of our athletes, her mom is in a nursing home, so we did Valentine’s Day cards in February and now we’re going to do Christmas cards. We try to also do other things, you know, to bring everybody together.
With all the Special Olympics Pennsylvania events, you have either sectionals or competitions. This is just something where we get together, have fun, and stay active… It’s a good opportunity for not only the athletes, but for volunteers and coaches to get together, stay in touch, and encourage each other.
My husband is a basketball clinician. He played basketball, broadcasts for basketball, officiates for basketball, and does clinics for us. My three kids, they’re now 27, 31, and 32. When they were in middle school, the boys were Unified Partners for a bowling team. Then, my daughter, was a Unified Partner for bocce, bowling, and long distance walking. When she was in elementary school, she was voted Unified Partner of the Year. She said to me when I was coming home from Villanova this year, ‘I think I might go back to being a Unified Partner.’ So, I have gotten all of my family involved.
My one son is a nurse, and being around Special Olympics has helped him. I can remember him coming home from work one day when he was in college as a CNA. He said, ‘We have a person with a disability who’s on my floor and I was helping, and I was so mad because they weren’t talking to the person. They were talking about the person, but not to them.’
My other son was a counselor at a camp and was able to cover over the skills he learned. The opportunity they had as Unified Partners has helped them with what they do. I’m very proud of them.
I’m very happy that my family has accommodated me throughout the years because I was involved with Special Olympics before I even moved here, before I got married, before I had kids. They have all adjusted to me going to events and I think that’s why they decided to join because I always would come back and had so much fun.
One of our athletes went to China for World Games in 2007. That was phenomenal, Opening Ceremonies and Closing Ceremonies. It was like, incredible. It was just like the Olympics. That was very cool.
The thing I like the most about National Games is, for instance, our Unified team down in Orlando [in 2022] lost their first game and had to do four more games in a row and won the gold medal. That was exciting because it was a very competitive division, and it was phenomenal that they won. Just to be able to hang out with everyone and walk into that stadium, it was fun.
The best memory is the relationships built with volunteers and athletes. The best is just the relationships.
If you don’t take that first step to get involved, then you’re never going to do it. Just take a chance, go into it with open eyes, and have fun.
I really like the fact that Special Olympics Pennsylvania is a caring community, they support everybody. I know with bocce, as being part of the bocce sports community, there have been so many relationships that have developed there. And the ‘thank yous’ you get from the athletes, and the coaches and the volunteers. Those mean the most. When people thank you for your time, thank you for what you do. You don’t do it for the thank yous, but it’s nice to know that you’re appreciated.
Here’s what Deb Andrews had to say while nominating Laura:
“Laura has been a member of the Management Team for over 30 years. My husband was very ill and then passed away, so Laura not only handled the Team Lead job, she also handled my SOPA responsibilities to take the burden off of me at this difficult time. Laura not only does all of the paperwork, emails, helping to lead the Bocce Bash, coaches, sets up the training venues, attends state events in whatever capacity is needed, helps with all fundraising events, she also makes sure that the equipment/uniforms/event prizes and event planning is kept up to date.”
