Cops on Rooftops fundraiser for Special Olympics a great success

Westminster Police Chief Jeff Spaulding raised a bucket full of donations at the Cops on Rooftops Special Olympics fundraiser September 25, 2010.  Photo by Kevin Dayhoff

Cops on Rooftops fundraiser for Special Olympics a great success

$8,332.00 raised in 30 hours in an event full of good humor for a worthy cause

By Kevin Dayhoff  http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2010/10/cops-on-rooftops-fundraiser-for-special.html

Posted 9/29/2010

A rested Westminster Police Chief Jeff Spaulding gave a report on the recent “Cops on Rooftops” fundraising event at the Westminster mayor and common council meeting last Monday.

He looked none the worse for wear after spending over 30 hours perched on the roof of the Dunkin' Donuts, on Route 140 in Westminster last Saturday and Sunday.

After the obligatory humor about cops and doughnuts, Spaulding confessed that he was proud that he only ate two doughnuts in the 30 hours he spend with his colleague, Lt. Andrew Winner, commander of the Maryland State Police Westminster barrack, raising money for Special Olympics Athletes.

“Well, we endured the heat, the cold, the wind, and the rain, but the fundraiser was a great success.  We raised well in excess of our $5,000 goal for Special Olympics last weekend…” 

The total came to $8,332.00, said Spaulding with some pride and a bit of subdued amazement that they surpassed their goal by so much.

At 9:30 last Saturday night the two intrepid police officers had already raised over $3,500.00 when Explore Carroll visited to check their progress (and their welfare.)

“It’s going well,” said Spaulding over the sounds of the radio playing and the steady stream of well-wishers from below.  Up on the rooftop, Winner and Spaulding had nested quite well, with lawn chairs, food, and an awning overhead set-up to provide all the comforts of home – on a highway store rooftop, that is.

How Spaulding only ate two doughnuts is amazing since their rooftop digs were constantly bombarded with the aromas of doughnuts being made in the store below. 

“Oh, geeze, what’s that?  It’s apple.  I think they are now making something with apples” (in the store below,) lamented Spaulding at one point.  “Oh man, this is torture,” he laughed as he traded words of encouragement with Winner not to eat too many doughnuts throughout the evening.

Of course, both Winner and Spaulding are athletes themselves and do not look like they eat too many doughnuts.  “Look at this guy,” Spaulding said of Winner last Saturday night. 

“Does he look like he eats a lot of doughnuts?”

"Don't answer that," Winner said.

“The citizens of Carroll County have been quite generous,” said Spaulding.  “Frankly, that does not surprise me,” he elaborated as he added how he has always been amazed as to how well Carroll countians support social causes with generosity.

Winner quickly added in agreement, “I have been truly amazed at the generosity of Carroll County.  A lot of people made a special effort to come and make a donation.”

Maryland State Police spokesperson Greg Shipley was also there last Saturday evening to cheer Winner and Spaulding on.

“It’s commendable…,” said Shipley.  When asked for further comment, Shipley explained that all the attention needed to be on the two police officers and the special needs athletes they support.

“Hey, I’m just here to congratulate them on what looks to be a successful event.  It’s nice that two officers give-up their weekend for such a good cause,” said a smiling Shipley as he traded humor with Winner and Spaulding from the parking lot below.

"It's a great cause," Spaulding said of Special Olympics.  “Law enforcement has a long history of supporting Special Olympics.”

So does Spaulding.  He is a central regional coordinator for the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, and has participated in that event since 1986.

His interest started 23 years ago when he was an officer in the Howard County Police Department and was asked to participate in Maryland's first Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

Since then, he has volunteered to raise money for and awareness about Special Olympics.  He attends Special Olympics competitions as far away as Japan to serve as a security guard, awards presenter or volunteer.

As for the doughnut shop rooftop stunt, the idea came from law enforcement officers in Illinois who took to the rooftops of 94 Dunkin' Donuts locations in 2009, and raised more than $182,000.

In Maryland last year, one location in Laurel participated in the promotion and raised $7,000.  This year, Westminster joined three other participating locations in College Park, Ocean City, and Glen Burnie.

Last Monday night at the Westminster council meeting, Spaulding explained that a retired state trooper made a special trip to donate $1,000.00 on Sunday and the owner of the Dunkin’ Donuts also donated $1,000.00 to the cause.

“And folks are still asking if they can still donate,” said Spaulding.  “And the answer is yes, just be in touch with me at the (Westminster Police) station.”

For information about donating to the fund for Special Olympics of Maryland, go to the organization's website at www.somd.org or call 410-789-6677, or call Spaulding at the police station at 410-848-4646.  Contributing doughnuts is optional.

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[20100929 sodosm SCEKED pubver Cops Rooftops SpecOlym gr8 succ]

Labels: Food doughnuts, MD Special Olympics, MD State Police, MD State Police Winner Andy, Non-profits, Westminster Police Chief Spaulding-Jeff, Westminster Police Dept
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Special Olympics of Maryland Fundraiser

Special Olympics of Maryland Fundraiser

Host: Westminster Police Dept.
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2009
Time: 12:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: Town Mall
Street: 400 N. Center Street
City/Town: Westminster, MD

A message from Westminster Police Chief Jeff Spaulding

Slush n slide with Chief Spaulding

Dear Friends:

The Westminster Police Department and Time Out Sports Grille will be co-hosting a great new event at Town Mall in Westminster on Saturday, October 3rd from noon to 6:00 p.m. to support my good friends at Special Olympics Maryland.

The event, called the “Slush ‘N Slide”, is an outdoor festival suitable for kids of all ages and it’s a great warm-up for the Polar Bear Plunge which will be here before we know it.

During the festival we will be making an attempt to set a record by building the world’s largest snowball (as in snow cone). Following our attempt, hearty souls – hereafter known as “Sliders” – will take a turn sliding down a 28-foot inflatable waterslide into our record-breaking creation.

BRRRRR!! The privilege of sliding is reserved for those that raise a minimum of $50 in pledges for Special Olympics. Yep, I’m there!!

In addition to the Slide there will be tons of great things to do. Carnival games, face painting, wing and watermelon eating contests – even a chance for one lucky slider to win a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle!

Live music will be provided by “The Reagan Years”, a regional 80’s band with a huge following. Great food will be available, as well as a beer garden for those adults in the crowd.

A variety of personalities will be on hand to include Mayor Kevin Utz (also a slider) and 98 Rock’s Theo, Stash and Sarah “The Queen” Fleischer. A $5 donation to Special Olympics is requested of all non-Sliders who wish to attend the festivities. More details about this incredible event are available on-line at http://www.slushnslide.com/.

Please consider joining me in supporting the incredible athletes of Special Olympics by becoming a Slider. You can register yourself or your team at http://www.slushnslide.com/.

If sliding into freezing water isn’t your thing (I sure wish it wasn’t mine), please consider supporting my slide by making a contribution on the Slush ‘N Slide website as follows:

· Once on the “http://www.slushnslide.com/” website, click on “Sponsor Slider”

· Type in my first and last name (Jeff Spaulding) and hit enter

· Select my name from the list provided

No contribution is too small and every dime is greatly appreciated. Your contribution is 100% tax-deductible and all of the money raised goes directly to the 10,000+ athletes of Special Olympic Maryland.

20091003 Slush n slide with Chief Spaulding

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Eunice Kennedy Shriver remembered

Eunice Kennedy Shriver remembered for founding the Special Olympics

Sunday August 16, 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff

Some folks have asked where they may find my tribute to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, “Shriver remembered for Special Olympics and also for a connection to Carroll that appeared my Carroll Eagle Archives column on Sunday August 16, 2009

So I thought what I would do is post the long version which is unedited to meet word limit…

Last Tuesday, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, died at a hospital on Cape Cod surrounded by several generations of her large family. She was 88 years old.

Inspired by her sister, Rosemary Kennedy, who was born mentally retarded, Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968 for persons with intellectual disabilities.

As a child, Rosemary and Eunice Kennedy are reported to have spent a great deal of time together swimming and sailing. Rosemary died in 2005.

Shriver earned a sociology degree from Stanford University in 1943 and subsequently worked as a social worker at a prison for women in Alderson, W. Va, and the juvenile courts system in Chicago, before she took over the philanthropic foundation named after her brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., who had been killed fighting in WW II.

Throughout her lifetime received numerous awards for her work with children. In 1962, when no one spoke in public about the mentally handicapped, Shriver broke the ice and turned on the light on the plight of the handicapped.

It was then that she “revealed her sister's condition to the nation during her brother's presidency in a 1962 article for the Saturday Evening Post,” according to a number of historical accounts of Shriver’s incredible life of service to our nation.

A year earlier, in 1961, President Kennedy “signed a bill she championed to form the first President's Committee on Mental Retardation,” according to news accounts.

Shriver was the fifth of nine children in the family of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were two of her more famous brothers.

Many folks will also remember her as the mother of former NBC newswoman Maria Shriver; and the mother-in-law of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

She married R. Sargent Shriver, from Willis Street in Westminster, in 1953. Sargent is a member of the historic Shriver family in Carroll County, known as community, political and business leaders; whose heritage has been, in part, preserved by the Union Mills Homestead.

He later became President Kennedy’s first director of the Peace Corps. He was also Sen. George McGovern's running mate in 1972, and ran for president himself in 1976. It is reported that the couple were very close and that she was an integral part of her husband’s political career.

However, it is through the Special Olympics that she will live on through the ages.

She was the daughter of a millionaire, the sister of a president and a U.S. Senator, and the mother-in-law of a governor; however she is best known for her tireless lifelong commitment to the mentally handicapped – and the Special Olympics.

Tovia Smith said it best on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered:” Shriver “was born to one of America’s most powerful families but spent her life laboring for some of the least powerful.”

Kevin Dayhoff may reached at kevindayhoff at gmail.com or visit him at http://www.westminstermarylandonline.net/

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Flame of Hope Arrives in Carroll County June 3 2009

Flame of Hope Arrives in Carroll County!

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kelley Wallace/SOMD
PH: 410-789-6677 x117
Cell: 443-386-7965
E-mail: kwallace AT somd.org

OR

Chief Jeff Spaulding
Westminster Police Department
PH: 410-848-4646
E-mail: jspaulding AT westgov.com

Flame of Hope Arrives in Carroll County!

Carroll County Law Enforcement Officers Join Forces to Escort the Special Olympics Maryland Torch, Ensuring its Safe Passage to the 2009 SOMD Summer Games

Law Enforcement officers representing the police agencies throughout Carroll County will be out in force on Wednesday, June 3rd beginning at 8:00 AM, escorting the Special Olympics Maryland “Flame of Hope” from five (5) separate points around the county to Westminster. There they will join together and officially present the Flame of Hope in a brief ceremony at noon at City Hall. It is the duty of these Law Enforcement Torch Runners to ensure that the Flame is protected until it is delivered to the waiting hands of Special Olympics athletes on Friday, June 5th at the Opening Ceremony for the Special Olympic Maryland Summer Games held at Towson University, Towson Maryland.

This portion of the Torch Run Relay is part of the Central Leg, and Torch Run volunteers from the Maryland State Police, Sykesville PD, Hampstead PD, Manchester PD, Taneytown PD, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, the McDaniel College Office of Campus Safety, Springfield Hospital Police, State Fire Marshal’s Office, Office of the State’s Attorney, Maryland Police Training Commission and Westminster PD will escort the flame through various municipalities around the County, eventually converging at McDaniel College and traveling in a unified “Final Leg” along Main Street to City Hall in Westminster. The law enforcement volunteers are raising funds in conjunction with the run by selling Torch Run T-shirts, holding events, and soliciting donations. (See end of press release for details on each of the 6 legs).

“We are proud to join our brother and sister law enforcement and correctional officers from around the world in demonstrating our support for these very special members of our community,” stated Chief Jeff Spaulding of the Westminster Police Department. “We are particularly pleased that we will be joined on each of our runs by Special Olympics athletes from right here in Carroll County. It is a great opportunity to further strengthen the long-standing relationship between law enforcement and Special Olympics that we enjoy in Maryland.” Chief Spaulding invites the community to attend a short ceremony at Westminster City Hall following the Final Leg during which the Special Olympics Athletes who participate as Torch Runners will be honored for their participation.

Statewide, the Maryland Torch Run Relay consists of four different legs – Eastern, Western, Central and Southern – and during the week of June 1st to 5th, thousands of law enforcement Torch Run volunteers will cover hundreds of miles, eventually converging on Towson where the individual flames will be united in the Final Leg Ceremony, and then officers from around the state will travel the final three (3) miles to the Summer Games Opening Ceremonies at Towson University. It is there that the “Flame of Hope” is handed off to Special Olympics athletes who have the honor of lighting the cauldron and officially declaring the 2009 SOMD Summer Games open. Carroll County will be represented by Chief Jeff Spaulding and other members of the Westminster PD in the Final Leg on Friday, June 5th.

The Maryland Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is a year-round movement whose goal is to raise both funds and public awareness for the athletes who train and compete in Special Olympics Maryland. When it began in 1986, only a handful of officers participated, raising about $50,000. Since that time, the Maryland Torch Run has grown tremendously, including volunteer officers from nearly every law enforcement agency and correctional facility in Maryland, raising more than $3.8 million for Special Olympics Maryland in 2008 – the largest single fund raising effort for Special Olympics in the world.

For more information about the Carroll County Torch Run Relay, or to support the Torch Run Relay by purchasing a commemorative Torch Run T-shirt for $10, contact the Westminster Police Department at (410) 848-4646. For more information about Special Olympics Maryland and the 2009 Summer Games, contact Kelley Wallace at (410) 789-6677 x117 or visit http://www.somd.org/.

THE CARROLL COUNTY TORCH RUN EVENT INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING LEGS:

Sykesville Leg – Members of the Maryland State Police, Maryland Police Training Commission, Sykesville PD, and the Springfield Hospital Police. Runners/bicyclists will depart Maryland Police Training Commission Training Facility @ 8:15 AM and travel north on Route 32, Johnsville Road, west on Liberty Road to Route 97, to McDaniel College.

Hampstead/Manchester Leg – Members of the Hampstead PD, and Manchester PD. Runners and bicyclists will depart Manchester PD @ 9:00 AM and travel south on Route 27 to McDaniel College.

Taneytown Leg – Members of the Taneytown Police Department, Office of the State Fire Marshall and the Carroll County Crisis Response Team. Runners/bicyclists will depart the Taneytown Bowling Center @ 9:00 AM and travel east on Route 140 to WMC Drive to McDaniel College.

Mt. Airy Leg – Members of the Maryland State Police. Runners/bicyclists will depart Mt. Airy @ 8:00 AM and travel north on Route 27 to McDaniel College.

Union Bridge/New Windsor Leg – Members of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office. Runners/bicyclists will depart the Union Bridge Fire Hall @ 9:00 AM and travel east through New Windsor on Route 31 to McDaniel College.

Final Leg – Includes all participating law enforcement agencies in Carroll County (see above) to include members of the McDaniel College Department of Campus Safety, Office of the State’s Attorney and Westminster Police Department. Runners/bicyclists will depart McDaniel College @ noon and travel east along Main Street to City Hall where a Torch Run welcoming ceremony and celebration will take place.

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