Today, I was in Killarney as the Special Olympics Torch arrived. We had been contacted by the Kerry Stars, our local branch, and we were happy to offer help.
We’ll be raising money for them over the weekend, in both our Dingle and Killarney shops, offering a free extra scoop of ice cream and asking for a donation in return. So far, our customers have been generous, and we hope our little effort helps make things a bit easier for the organisers.
Today, as the Olympians arrived into town, surrounded by a phalanx of volunteers, the crowd wasn’t anyway as big as it should have been. We were there, handing out ice cream, along with maybe 30 other people.
We have been involved with a few things having to do with people with intellectual disabilties – Camphill, which is well worth checking out, and of course the Special Olympics when they were held in Ireland. Each time I meet them I feel graced, as I did today, when I watched the torch come up New Street and saw the joy of the athletes. Each time, even if I’m handing our ice cream, I feel that I’m the lucky one for our meeting – that I’ve been given a little give of love.
There was lots of that this afternoon, and I have to give full credit to the Gardai, who have clearly invested a lot in the Special Olympics, and their involvement was great to see.
Today was a good day.
By the way, for anyone interested, there’s a brilliantly-written Irish blog I’ve been reminded of again, by a Down’s dad, called “Our Jacob.”
Technorati tags: Special Olympics, Killarney, torch, Kerry Stars
