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Mostly Cloudy N. Bellmore SEPTA launches Special Olympics programs
Tim Flynn, of North Bellmore, said he thought there weren’t enough local sports programs for children with special needs like his 5-year-old son, Brody, who has cerebral palsy. Neighbor Lori Cohen, who also has a special-needs child, agreed. Together, they decided to make a change.
Flynn is a program director at Special Olympics New York, Inc., while Cohen is vice president of the North Bellmore Special Education PTA. The parent group had Flynn speak at a winter meeting, at which he identified volunteers and generated interest in SEPTA and Special Olympics co-sponsored athletics programs.
“Sports play a valuable part in someone’s life,” Flynn said. “The intangibles someone learns carry over into the real world, and especially for children, there are socialization and community aspects. When there is a lack of this kind of programming, Special Olympics’ goal is to get in there and find a solution.”
Flynn noted that volunteers are vital to the launch of such initiatives. Thanks to the work of parents like Pat Boyle Egland and local teenagers, North Bellmore’s Special Olympics Young Athletes and basketball programs recently celebrated the successful completion of their first season.
Egland, SEPTA’s social media secretary, was immediately interested in the project. Helping children with special needs is important to her on a personal and professional level; the pediatric nurse practitioner’s daughter, Molly, required special services when she was younger. Now 15 and a sophomore at Mepham High School, Egland said, Molly is an honor roll student and is thriving, thanks to the support she received as a child.
That’s part of why Egland has remained active in the North Bellmore SEPTA. She and her husband, Paul, Cohen and North Bellmore Superintendent Marie Testa trained to become Special Olympics coaches.
The programs ran every Monday from March 3 through May 4 at Martin Avenue Elementary School. The younger children met in the all-purpose room, while older participants played in the gym.
