On March 7th and 8th many athletes went to Ohio State University to compete in the Winter Games! Congratulations to everyone that participated!
Each year in March we celebrate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month! On March 12, 2025 we held our 17th annual DD Awareness Month Luncheon and had almost 240 guests join us at MVNU!
During our luncheon, we reviewed all the wonderful projects we were able to do for our community using ARPA funding. We had a panel of people that are involved with our Special Olympics program to share about their experiences!
Matt Royer, Freemason’s, Volunteer
Blake Berger, Athlete
Calli Finnell, Athlete
Erin Tenney, Bocce Coach, MVNU IGNITE program
We were also able to give out awards to seven different people/groups!
Employer Award: Wishmaker House Bed & Breakfast
Community Partner Award: YMCA of Mount Vernon
Local Hero Award: Retired Sheriff David Shaffer, Tina Davis & Brandi Swingle of Creative Foundations
Individual Spotlight Award: Cheyenne Proper & Sabrina Wilson
“Located in a restored storefront in downtown Mount Vernon, The Annex is an extension of Kenyon College's teaching museum, The Gund. Through programs informed by The Gund’s growing permanent collection, we reimagine what it means to "learn with art” as a community. We invite neighbors, families, students, and lifelong learners to discover new connections to art, ideas, and each other through free workshops, creative activities, and events.” - Kenyon College
John Paul is an avid photographer, always looking for new ways to grow his skill and enhance his creativity. He thoroughly enjoyed learning about creating Photograms during an “Alternatives in Photography” session at The Annex!
On Saturday, Santa Claus spent some time with these amazing families and kiddos at our Sensory Santa event! The kiddos even got to do so many fun crafts and activities while they were there!
Thank you to The Autism Society of Central Ohio and everyone else that pulled together to host this event!
On August 8th, more than a hundred athletes, volunteers and family members gathered to celebrate the wonderful accomplishments of the Athletes in our Athletics, Basketball, Bocce and Bowling programs. Congratulations to each and every person that is involved in making this program so successful!
Ansley Daubenmier, Mount Vernon High School Senior brought the Limitless Livestock Show to the Knox County Fair! The Limitless Livestock Show allows an opportunity for children with developmental disabilities to show an animal without the obligation of purchasing the animal.
There were several children that participated in the program with mentors that showed horses, cows, chickens, pigs, goats and rabbits.
Thank you, Ansley for putting together a wonderful and memorable event. Thank you to all the mentors, friends and family that also made this event so wonderful. Congratulations to Ciarra, Alex, Dalton, Ayden, Annie, Nevaeh, and Makenna! You all did a fabulous job showing the animals!
On June 8th, Lashley Training Center hosted our first Powerlifting Meet! Knox, Stark and Madison counties all came together to show off how hard they have been training. Thank you so much to everyone that helped make this event a reality!
Each year in the month of March we celebrate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month!
For 2024, we have been honored to host our annual DD Awareness Month Luncheon where we had about 200 guests join us as we took a journey through life and shared different ways our program has impacted peoples lives from birth through the rest of their lifetime. The presenters that shared their incredible stories were Bryce and Sarah Maners (with their gorgeous daughter MJ), Amber Lavin, Tarynn Ball and Dave Chopson. We were also honored to give out awards to seven different deserving people/groups.
Employer Award: Knox County Engineer’s Office
Local Hero Award: Tanner Cooper-Risser, OSU Extension
Dedication Award: Colleen Frazee, Independent Provider
Community Partner Award: Centerburg Church of Christ & Kenyon College Athletics
Individual Spotlight Award: Darian Decamp & Tarynn Ball
This year we were also able to partner with MTV Arts to have a Sensory Friendly viewing of their production of Honk! We had about 25 people join us on March 13th to watch the show in a sensory safe environment. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, MTV Arts!
We were excited to host our 8th Annual Coloring and Essay Contest for all Knox County Elementary Schools this year and would like to thank the students for helping us celebrate. There were nine hundred and thirty-five students who participated in the coloring (K-2nd grades) and essay (3rd-5th grades) contest with one hundred and eleven classrooms participating county-wide, representing twelve different elementary schools in Knox County.
We are proud to announce the winners of this year’s coloring contest (K-2nd grades): Maezie Stefanik (Fredericktown), Aubree Miller (East Knox), Maren Waibel (Columbia), Addyson Pollock (Pleasant St.), Kennedy Vicars (East), Rowan Kerr (Danville), Jayce Glick (Knox Learning Center), Oliver Alberts (Dan Emmett), Carter Mackie (Twin Oak), Giada Gallo (Centerburg), Zoey Light (St. Vincent de Paul), and Elena Suazo-Faber (Wiggin St.). The winners of this year’s essay contest (3rd-5th grades) were: Hadley Mann (Fredericktown), Rylei Morton (East Knox), Eva Johnson (Columbia), Abigail Puzines (Pleasant St.), Zeb Vanderhoof (East), Kate Gottke (East), Zayden Sapp (Danville), Savannah Byall (Dan Emmett), Lily McCament (Twin Oak), Samantha Jagger (Centerburg) and Keely Booth (Wiggin St.). Also congratulations to Sarah Vance from Danville Elementary for winning the teacher classroom prize this year.
Back row: Zeb Vanderhoof, Zayden Sapp, Hadley Mann, Abigail Puzines, Lily McCament, Keely Booth, Samantha Jagger, Rylei Morton, Kate Gottke
Front Row: Addyson Pollock, Aubree Miller, Zoey Light, Rowan Kerr, Elena Suazo-Faber, Kennedy Vicars, Jayce Glick, Giada Gallo
Not Pictured: Maezie Stefanik, Maren Waibel, Oliver Albers, Carter Mackie, Eva Johnson, Savannah Byall and Ms. Sarah Vance (teacher prize winner)
The Knox County Special Olympics basketball skills and team groups were able to partner with the Bladensburg Community Center on March 21st to hold a Basketball Showcase Event! Check out this blog post to see photos from this event.
The final exciting thing we did during March was partner with Mount Vernon Nazarene University for a OneMeal event. Together, we were able to package over 23,000 meals for Kids Across the World that will help feed children in Uganda and Zambia.
On Thursday March 21st, the Bladensburg Community Center welcomed our Special Olympics Basketball athletes for our second annual Showcase event!
The Bladensburg Sertoma generously donated $500 to Knox County Special Olympics and assisted with arranging this wonderful event.
Thank you to everyone that helped make this event possible!
Timmy Jaynes
Tracy Blanton
Stacy & Michelle Hagans
Simmons Farm
