Flame of Hope Final Leg Will Travel Through Wichita
Special Olympics Kansas athletes will run side by side with members of Law Enforcement
It is expected that more than 2,000 officers from agencies across the state will carry the “Flame of Hope” more than 1,600 miles as they travel to the annual Special Olympics Kansas Summer Games as part of the ceremonial 2023 Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR). Law Enforcement Officers along with Special Olympics Kansas athletes will light the cauldron to officially open the Summer Games in front of over 2,000 athletes, coaches and fans on June 2nd at Maize South High School.
The Final Leg of the Torch Run will take place in Wichita on Friday, June 2nd. The event will start at 2:00 p.m. with a brief ceremony at the Law Enforcement Memorial Wall at Wichita City Hall. Beginning at 2:30 p.m., the run will take the following route: The torch will travel west on Central and cross the river at Seneca. It will go north on Mclean and will travel to the first check point at Central and Zoo Blvd. It will continue Northwest on Mclean to the Quik Trip at 21st and Ridge for the next check point. The run will go North on Ridge and West on 29th St then North on Maize Rd and will stop at the final checkpoint at premier sponsor Club Car Wash on North Maize Rd before continuing North on Maize Rd and East on 37th St and entering in to the parking lot of Maize South High School at approximately 5:50-6pm. The torch will be presented to the athletes shortly after that during the Opening Ceremonies officially kicking off the Special Olympics Kansas Summer Games!
The public is encouraged to step outside their business or home and encourage the officers as they run. The Law Enforcement Torch Run began in Wichita in 1981 with six runners and has grown to an international program involving thousands of Law Enforcement personnel, raising millions of dollars annually to benefit Special Olympics programs in the United States and abroad.
“For more than 40 years, the Law Enforcement Torch Run has been an integral part of the Special Olympics Movement,” Special Olympics Kansas President/CEO John Lair said. “What started right here in Kansas has become an annual tradition all around the world.”
The Torch Run is the largest grassroots public awareness and fundraiser vehicle for Special Olympics Kansas. Officers volunteer hundreds of hours each year and in 2022 raised more than $500,000 in support of Special Olympics Kansas programs. This remarkable feat was accomplished by holding events and fundraising through the torch run, special event fundraisers (i.e. Polar Plunge, Truck Convoy, Tip-A-Cops, et.al), sponsorships and donations.
You can support the LETR Torch Run fundraising efforts at https://charity.pledgeit.org/KSLETR.
Full Torch Run Schedule
5/11/2023 – Larned and Ellsworth
5/18/2023 – Hutchinson/Reno County
5/26/2023 – Leavenworth to Lansing
5/31/2023 – Olathe to KCK
5/30/2023 – Lawrence to Ottawa
5/31/2023 – Topeka
5/31/2023 – Ottawa
5/31-6/1/2023 – Emporia to El Dorado
6/1/2023 – Ft. Riley
6/2/2023 – McPherson
6/2/2023 – El Dorado to Augusta
6/2/2023 – Andover
6/2/2023 – FINAL LEG – Wichita / Sedgwick County / McConnell AFB
7/21/2023 – Pittsburg (State Powerlifting and Flag Football)
MEDIA INQUIRIES
Special Olympics Kansas LETR liaison: Jacob LaMunyon, lamunyonj@soks.org.
SPONSORS
Sponsors of the Law Enforcement Torch Run include Club Car Wash, Kalmar, Toyota, MAICO Industries, Southwest Dairy Farmers Association and Profit Builders.
ABOUT LAW ENFORCEMENT TORCH RUN
The Law Enforcement Torch Run began in 1981 with founder Wichita Police Chief Richard LaMunyon and five law enforcement officers carrying the torch for the Special Olympics Kansas Summer Games in Wichita. The LETR has since evolved to a volunteer partnership with Special Olympics to champion acceptance and inclusion. It has become a worldwide community of law enforcement officers rallying to support Special Olympics, the impetus for millions of new friendships around the world, and a series of events including Torch Runs, Polar Plunge fundraisers, and Tip-A-Cop® events. The LETR is the largest grassroots fundraiser for Special Olympics with more than 100,000 law enforcement participants around the world. Visit LETR.org for more information.
