When Eunice Kennedy Shriver persuaded President John F. Kennedy to publicly reveal that their sister Rosemary had a mental disability, it planted the seed for the Special Olympics Inc. Three years earlier, in 1958, Shriver had started a summer day camp in her backyard for disabled people using nondisabled coaches. Within 10 years, Shriver had established 40 such locations, leading to the first World Games (held in 1968 in Chicago). Today, the Special Olympics features 30 sports in 192 countries, with almost 3 million participants. It is recognized as the world leader in research into the prevention of intellectual disabilities as well as the largest public health organization serving the 200 million people — representing 3% of the world population — who have such disabilities. The not-for-profit organization is headquartered in Washington and has approximately 200 employees.
The organization’s motto is: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
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