Click to view event photos by Jim Shaw and Heather Aveson | It would take a lot more than cloudy skies and a little rain to dampen the spirits of athletes and supports at this year’s LABBB collaborative Special Olympics. More than two hundred athletes competed in a variety of track and field events from a softball throw to relay races. For the first time, elementary age athletes from the program joined the middle and high school students in the competition.
LABBB athletes partnered up with members of the Best Buddies program from Lexington, Bedford and Arlington High Schools along with Chenery Middle School in Belmont. More than 400 Best Buddies volunteers are an integral part of making the Special Olympics a success each year. They help with planning, organizing, setting up and runningtheevent as well as accompanying athletes through out the day.
When they weren’t competing, the student athletes could take a break under the Olympic Tent by making crafts, getting their faces painting or dancing with frie
nds to the sounds of a DJ.
The committed staff of LABBB doesn’t just support the students on the track and field, they’ll even take to the cold Atlantic waters to help their kids. For the second year, a group of staffers known as The “LABBB Legends” braved the frigid March waters of Revere Beach to raise more than $6,000 to support the event.
