The Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim Cypress snd the Special Olympics organization joined forces on Saturday to stage the Harmony Games, which are selected competitions designed to allow kids with and without disabilities to compete.
“The Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim Cypress and the Special Olympics Organization as collaborative partners to demonstrate our commitment to embrace the diverse population we serve,” said Jeri Barber, BGCAC Program Director.
“We desire to find equitable resources for all to participate and find inclusive spaces where all feel valued, safe and supported,” she said.
Erika Gary, interim CEO of the BAGCAC, said “we are so excited for this day with Special Olympics. We as a club have always believed that all kids, regardless of their abilities, deserve a safe place to learn to play.”
Gary thanked sponsors like U.S. Bank, OC Soccer Club (OCSC), Raising Cane’s, the Caterina Club, and others for believing in such a worthy endeavor.
“For OCSC, contributing to our community through participation in events like the Harmony Games: A Unified Family Play Day at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Anaheim-Cypress is what we love to do. It’s all about fostering unity, support, and growth among our youth and instilling values that extend far beyond the playing field,” said Dan Rutstein Orange County SC President of Business Operations.
The Special Olympics Organization selected the local club as only one of two Boys and Girls club to pilot this experimental program, it said in a statement earlier in the week.
Brian Richter, Assistant VP of Partnerships for Special Olympics, attended the event Saturday and said the local club was always in tune with inclusion.
“From the get go, they saw the possibilities and not the obstacles,” he said, “and they were always interested in finding solutions.”
“This is a new venture for us as we’re looking for a way to integrate our programs and bring more inclusion into the Boys and Girls Clubs,” he said.
“Today is really about introducing some of their club members and families in this community to this concept and letting them recognize this is fine, this makes sense,” he said.
“In the long-term, what we want to do is really bring inclusion, unified activities so that it isn’t a one-time thing.”
Two Cypress officials attended the event including former Mayor and Council member Anne Hertz-Mallari and Council member Frances Marquez.
Until recently, Hertz-Mallari served as CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim Cypress and was instrumental in merging the local club with Anaheim.
“I’m very happy to be back here today to see the kickoff of this wonderful program,” she said. Hertz left the position after being named CEO of the nonprofit organization WeCare in Los Alamitos.
In an interview during the event, Gary explained the event in more detail.
“So unified means in this case, it’s all kids of all abilities, learning and playing together. And really, with the Special Olympics program, they have a lot of resources that they’re offering the club, especially in fostering leadership skills with youth of all abilities,” she said.
“The purpose of today is to kick off that partnership that we’re going to be making with Special Olympics. It’s also outreach to let families know that this is a safe, inclusive place,” said Gary.
Activities like Bocce ball, Cornhole, and other games played on Saturday are sports designed for collaboration, said Gary. “You can play from a wheelchair, use a walker or sit down,” she said.
“These activities are really adaptive,” said Gary.
The Harmony Games brought together kids with and without disabilities for spirited competition and unified play.
“These are things we’re learning from Special Olympics,” said Gary. “We’re going beyond sports like soccer, baseball, football and things like that.”
Gary, a longtime employee before being named Interim CEO, said merging the two clubs has paid huge dividends.
“ We’ve been really successful since merging,” said Gary. “We’ve more than doubled in size,” she said, adding that “we’ve been able to leverage the strengths of both clubs as well as the partnerships available in both cities,” she added.
“With Anaheim, there were a lot of great resources and companies that have such a commitment to to service and everything. And then in Cypress, we, you know, it’s such a strong community, and there’s a lot of businesses and community support here. So being able to put that together just is more resources that we can give to our kids,” she said.The event was held at Cedar Glen Park in Cypress.