One Thousand Volunteers Wanted

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nick Emerick
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  The Kadena Special Olympics has immersed Department of Defense members into Okinawan communities and provided an opportunity to help change lives for the better.

This year there is a need for more than a thousand volunteers on Nov. 5, to help with several events occurring on Kadena Air Base, including track, soccer and golf.

The KSO annual event serves as a wonderful opportunity for military members, spouses, contractors and civilians to volunteer and make a difference in someone’s life.

Volunteer opportunities include:

1. Art Exhibit at Kadena Risner Gym Nov. 4-5:
The art exhibit is held to showcase the talent and effort of special needs children from the local community.

2. Gift Bag Stuffers/Distributors Nov. 1 and 5:
Every year gift bags are made to give to each participant.

3. Game Day Chaperon Volunteers, Kadena AB Nov. 5:
Game day needs a lot of volunteers to make this event a success. We need 950+ athlete buddies that will be assigned an athlete to chaperon the entire day. Help make a huge difference in someone’s life by being their rock as they compete all day. We need an unlimited amount of cheerers at each event to support our athletes. Positions include opening/closing event volunteers, medical tent volunteers, t-shirt packaging and t-shirt sales volunteers.

4. Sporting Event Volunteers, Kadena Nov. 5:
Sporting event volunteers will be responsible for helping an event POC lead their specific sporting event from the ground up. This is a great opportunity to showcase your leadership and management skills while having a major impact in the lives of our athletes.

5. Entertainment Volunteers Kadena Nov. 5:
Entertainment will bring exclusive face/arm painting, bouncy castles, and costume entertainers. **NOTE: Costume entertainers must have their own costume (superheroes/princesses preferably).

6. Logistics support; Tear down Crew Nov. 5; Storage/Warehouse support, Nov. 6. Game day can’t happen without logistic support. We need 10 members for game day crisis and sweeper teams to help restock facilities and remove trash. Thirteen members are needed for the tear down crew after the closing ceremony Nov. 5. We need at least two members with forklift licenses, preferably 10k AT, 6k or 10k ground. Last but not least, we need 15 more members to help place everything back in storage in our KSO warehouse on Nov. 6.

Links to these events and more information are located on the Kadena Special Olympics Facebook page,
https://www.facebook.com/KadenaSpecialOlympics/.