On July 23, the San Antonio CPA Society (SACPAS) held its annual Funlympics event at St. PJ’s Children Home in San Antonio. As the largest annual community service event for the SACPAS, the organization has held Funlympics at the end of the summer every year for 33 years.
The goal of the event is to get underprivileged children ages 4-12 outside to exercise and play games in a field day-style event while getting them excited about school and education by providing each child a backpack full of school supplies for the upcoming school year. This year the backpacks and school supplies were donated by Padgett, Stratemann & Co.
This year, I co-chaired the event with Laura Lieck of Padgett, Stratemann & Co. For the first time this year, the SACPAS brought DJ Ace and “hype-man” Victor “Vic” Yates from the UTSA Athletic Department to help the kids stretch and get warmed up and excited for the events by focusing on physical fitness and health.
Another addition this year was the inclusion of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss provided for the children by Kids N More Dentist to promote dental hygiene. At the end of the event, the children enjoyed hotdogs, chips, and dessert prepared by volunteers and provided by various sponsors, including Sysco, Mission Restaurant Supply, and Whataburger.
Although it was a very warm day, more than 260 children from various social service agencies and residential facilities attended. As the kids arrived, each received a Funlympics ball cap to keep the sun out of their eyes for the day. DJ Ace and Vic then got the kids warmed up and stretched before the games began. Some of the games included this year were an obstacle course, football toss, frisbee catch, bean bag toss, water balloon toss, putt-putt, and many more. The children could also receive temporary body art from volunteers.
The games were broken into categories for kids ages 4-7 and kids 8-12. At each game, the kids competed within their group for various medals. By the end of the day, each child had a neck full of medals. After the games and lunch, the kids received their backpack for the school year. Included in the backpacks were pencils, paper, folders, spirals, crayons, and other various school supplies.
The look on the each of the kids’ faces when they received their backpacks was similar to the face of a child on Christmas morning. It is really satisfying knowing that these kids are getting excited about school and education.
With the help of the numerous volunteers, sponsors, St. PJ’s, and the SACPAS membership, Funlympics 2016 was another success. If you are interested in sponsoring or volunteering for next year’s event, feel free to send an email to scannon@gardnertx.com.
Top image: Children race during the 33rd annual Funlympics. Photo courtesy of the San Antonio CPA Society.
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