21 July 2004

Jonah Fronts For Special Olympics' Big Day

20 July is Special Olympics Day, a huge celebration for the movement that provides sports opportunities for more than 1 million people with intellectual disabilities world wide.

Continuing the momentum from its recent 21st anniversary celebrations, Special Olympics New Zealand is delighted to announce the appointment of global sporting phenomenon Jonah Lomu as its Special Ambassador.

Jonah generously lent his time as an Ultimate Mentor at a gala dinner auction at SKYCITY (major sponsor for Special Olympics NZ) last month. He said a t the time he'd like to work with the movement more in the future, and this offer has been gratefully accepted.

To kick off, Jonah celebrated Special Olympics Day yesterday by hosting a lunch at SKYCITY's Orbit restaurant, with the winning bidder, two of their colleagues and lucky Special Olympics athlete and leader Scot Jackson as his guests.

Jonah joins Special Olympics ambassadors Beatrice Faumuina, Jayne Kiely, Melissa Moon and Dick Quax in spreading the word about Special Olympics as it aims to double participation rates by 2010.

"I'm very pleased to be supporting Special Olympics New Zealand in this way," Jonah said. "The organisation has supported sporting programmes for the intellectually disabled throughout the country for over two decades. It's great to be able to acknowledge this achievement and contribute something towards Special Olympics New Zealand's future development and growth at the same time."

"We feel very privileged that Jonah and the other Ambassadors have agreed to give us some of their precious time," said Special Olympics New Zealand chief executive Angus McLeod. "This is an important year for us as we look to build on our world-leading participation rate. We are extremely appreciative of all the support we are receiving, particularly from the SKYCITY Auckland Community Trust, which recently announced that Special Olympics is the recipient of their largest grant for 2004."

ENDS

© Scoop Media

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