Alexa Donovan-Bowers is a member of VSP’s Marketing Team and a Site Leader for the Mobile Eyes Program. She shares her experience at the Villanova Special Olympics in November.
Last month I was in St. Davids, PA to be a part of the volunteer team for Opening Eyes at the Villanova Special Olympics.
Opening Ceremonies
The first night I attended the opening ceremonies and what an incredible experience! There were around 1,000 athletes, trainers and the volunteers … the energy level in the Pavilion (where Villanova plays basketball) was amazing. There were athletes of all ages from the entire state of Pennsylvania, including Team Pennsylvania, training for the 2010 Special Olympics World Championships in Nebraska next July.
During the ceremonies, I was fortunate to sit next to one of the Special Olympic evaluators, who also hadn’t participated before. We both were experiencing the evening for the first time. Sitting on the other side was a person that had coordinated the Special Olympics three years ago, when she was a senior at Villanova. She had a wealth of background information and was able to answer any questions.
The truly amazing thing about the Villanova Special Olympics is that it is run by Villanova students. Freshmen are assigned to teams and are campus guides for the weekend. Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors have the opportunity to volunteer time, raise money, coordinate the events, work with media and sponsors. Over half of the Villanova student body volunteers for this event. It was cool to see the students so involved.
Working with Opening Eyes
I arrived at Bartley Hall on campus in the morning as the volunteers were starting to set up the Healthy Athletes area. When sDr Scombordi arrived, she brought along students from the Pennsylvania School of Optometry, and we had the exam lanes set up in no time.
I lost count of the volunteers working with Opening Eyes. There were the local Lions Club and they brought along some Leos – High School volunteers. Max, one of the Leos, helped me at the auto refractor station all day. I also had a couple of third-year students that I taught how to use the equipment.
I don’t know how many Athletes we saw. I do know the volunteers who have been here in years past did not think that we had as many as last year. It was a beautiful day so I think they were all partying at the Athletic Village outside…..
What a day, I had a blast! I would do it again in a heart beat!
