Special Olympics Alberta is dedicated to enriching the lives of
individuals with an intellectual disability through sport.
2021 Annual Report
ATHLETES
Through the transformative power of sport, Special Olympics gives individuals with intellectual disabilities the strength, determination and confidence to take on any challenge in life. From the age of two, athletes participate in Special Olympics Alberta programs experiencing its benefits. Due to the impact that Special Olympics make on the lives of our athletes and their communities every $1 invested in a Special Olympics community sport program in Alberta, a minimum of $7 of social benefit is created.
2020-2021 Virtual Programming
“PEAK is a really helpful and awesome program, especially [during] this time of pandemic. It is great for me to stay active and motivated, their online activities are easy to follow, and the weekly BINGO card makes me keep going.”
– Kevin Petryshyn
SOA-Grande Prairie athlete
the PEAK Program
Hybrid Program
Home to Home Program
Young Athletes Program
ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT
Beyond programming opportunities, Special Olympics Alberta offers athlete leadership training opportunities, Unified Sports, health programs, and more.
Virtual Health Messenger Training:
The learning objectives for
this training are:
Health of Special Olympics Athletes
Positive Role Model
Understanding
Skills to Lead
Encourage Action
Feeling Empowered
Athlete Leadership
Leadership Input Council
Messengers Trained
Virtual Training
2020-2021
COACHES
“I often tell people that the Special Olympics is one of the happiest places on earth! It’s very inspiring to be a part of a team of athletes, coaches, and supporters who are focused on lifting each other up, and you’re guaranteed to have an absolute blast!”
– Makayla Watt
SOA-Edmonton coach
Volunteers
Volunteers are the main driver for the Special Olympics movement. Over the past year they have made tremendous efforts to connect with our athletes virtually, coach them online, provide virtual training sessions, and spend a tremendous amount of hours doing whatever it takes to better the lives of our athletes.
National Volunteer Week
Our National Volunteer Week landing page highlighted some of these incredible individuals through features, videos, and customizable thank you graphics.
IMPACT
Our digital footprint surged as people visited our YouTube to learn about the movement
156
Subscribers
(89 more than 2020)
9,437
Video Views
(6,672 more than 2020)
3,917
Unique Viewers
(2,872 more than 2020)
89,258
Impressions
(71,458 more than 2020)
Financials
Total Revenues
| Amount ($) | Percentage | |
| National Sponsors | 555,339 | 36% |
| General Donations | 98,327 | 6% |
| Government Funding | ||
| a) Government of Canada | 533,911 | 35% |
| b) Government of Alberta | 101,638 | 7% |
| Law Enforcement Torch Run | 97,479 | 6% |
| Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission | 38,431 | 3% |
| Foundations | 26,995 | 2% |
| Motionball | 53,160 | 3% |
| Other Revenue | 30,035 | 2% |
| Total | 1,535,315 |
Total Expenses
| Amount ($) | Percentage | |
| Sport Program and Events | 160,445 | 13% |
| Unified Sport Programs | 128,170 | 11% |
| Provincial Games | 29,939 | 2% |
| Team Alberta | 438 | 0% |
| Affiliate Services | 283,895 | 23% |
| Communications | 77,192 | 6% |
| Fund Development | 174,309 | 14% |
| Fund Development – Affiliate Sharing | 160,677 | 13% |
| Law Enforcement Torch Run | 99,094 | 8% |
| Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission | 138 | 0% |
| Administration | 102,909 | 8% |
| Total | 1,748,034 |
PEAK PROGRAM
The PEAK (Provincial Exercise and Activity Knockout) Program is a virtual program that ran three times over the past year in eight week intervals. Each week, athletes were challenged to hit their selected fitness goals, attend three virtual sessions for your body, your mind, and your health, complete their BINGO card, participate in bonus events, and a variety of fun activities.
The program also ran in a non-digital format called the PEAK Paper Program for athletes without access to the internet.
“The PEAK Program is a fun program as you can participate as little or as much as you want – the real winner is you as you get fit and stay healthy. Come join me and other athletes as we climb our mountains together through fun and fitness.”
– Leonka Kaluha
SOA-Calgary athlete
Completed 3 trips to the PEAK
Over 600,000 total minutes of activity tracked by climbers
5,249
Total Posts in the PEAK FB Group
57,622
Total Post Comments
60,260
Total Post Reactions
123,131
Total Post Engagements
LETR
Virtual Summer Series
They introduced the Virtual Summer Series, an annual series-style event consisting of three legs – biking, walking, and running. In its inaugural year, 117 VSS participants raised $31,824.
We also introduced our first-ever virtual plunge, #PlungeX that marked 10-years of #FreezinForAReason here in Alberta. We were able to spread our reach across the province and have plungers from new communities get involved.
Virtual Launch Party
We kicked things off with a wild Virtual Launch Party, hosted by Sean Burke, and 213 brrrave individuals took the plunge to raise over $116,000 for Special Olympics Alberta. It was amazing to see the creativity of the 62 plungers who submitted videos for our #PlungeX Virtual Video page.
“What can I say except it has been one of the best things to happen to me during my career in law enforcement. Come out to an event, [and] meet the athletes and officers who are a part of these two great organizations. I guarantee that you will go away from that event with a smile on your face and some awesome new friends.”
– Matt Burton
Chair of the Southwest Region
Funds raised
4,300 views
on our Facebook Polar Plunge Opening Ceremony with over 15,000 impressions
3,600 viewers
joined us to kick off off our first-ever VSS on Facebook
13 VSS participants
were highlighted in our Feature Friday series that was viewed 4,300 times across our platforms
PARTNERS
Special Olympics Alberta-Calgary Young Athlete
Benjamin Millington
