Forms For OFFICERS to Download
(simply click on the blue form you want)
International T R Conference
Regis Form: International Conf Registration Form '08
Runner Regis Form: LETR Runner Regis Form 08
LETR Materials Request Form: LETR Materials Request Form '08
In 1985 Chief Robert Bell of the Bridgton Police Department presented the idea of the Law Enforcement Torch Run to Special Olympics Maine's Executive Director Mickey Boutilier, and then to the Maine Chiefs of Police Association. As a result the Maine Torch Run program began.
Each year nearly 700 members of Maine law enforcement run approximately 900 miles carrying our Flame of Hope. The state is divided into fifteen sections, or Legs. Each Leg covers a portion of the state and the run concludes on Friday evening of the Special Olympics Summer State Games at Opening Ceremonies.
 Runners raise funds for Special Olympics Maine in a number of ways: they obtain pledges for the actual run - they hold Tip-A-Cop events at local restaurants - they hold Roof-Sits at local Wal-Marts across the state - they have bake sales, car washes, benefit basketball games, voluntary toll-booths - they sell Torch Run T-shirts, hold Serve and Protect events at local gas stations, sell raffle tickets for Harley motorcycles, sell paper torches at area businesses, and many, many more clever events.
To date, Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Maine has raised over ONE MILLION DOLLARS !
For further information on the Law Enforcement Torch Run or Special Olympics Maine, please contact your local Police Department or call the SOME Torch Run liaison, Lisa Bird at 839-5578.
History of Torch Run
The Law Enforcement Torch Run is Special Olympics' largest grass-roots fund-raiser and public awareness vehicle. It began in 1981, when Witcha, Kansas Police Chief Richard LaMunyon saw an urgent need to raise funds for and increase an awareness of Special Olympics. He also felt there was a need to involve local law enforcement personnel in the community and with the Special Olympics.
After three years of successful Torch Runs in Kansas, LaMunyon presented the program to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). With IACP's enthusiastic support and leadership, as well as the involvement of all facets of the law enforcement community -- sheriff's associations, police unions, state, county, municipal, military and federal law enforcement, and corrections officers -- the Torch Run expanded into seven states by 1985; forty-three states by 1986; and fifty states and twenty-three nations in 1996. By 1997 Europe and Asia were added to the list. Every two years, Law Enforcement officers representing their state's or nation's Torch Run program, comprise a "Final Leg Team" which carries the Olympic Flame of Hope into the Opening Ceremonies of the Special Olympics World Games. |
