Simpson College will be hosting the Special Olympics for itsthird year; though the event is taking place during a holiday breakthe number of volunteers has remained steady.

In past years, volunteer turnout has been great, and this yeardoesn’t seem to be any different, said Nicole Modianos Stumo,assistant director for student activities. It seems that the samestudents and groups have been volunteering year after year, andmany people are starting to look forward to the event and rememberto sign-up for a volunteer position year after year.

The Special Olympics have become a very big event, and “it’s agood event for the college to be hosting,” said LaurieDienburg-Hoppe, assistant director of residence life.

Working together Stumo and Dienburg-Hoppe communicate withMarlys West, a volunteer coordinator for the Special Olympics, andcoordinate student and staff volunteers for the event. Stumo andDienburg-Hoppe pass along information they receive from theregional coordinators to student and staff volunteers.

“I think that there’s a good group of student that are alwaysinterested in helping out,” said Jim Thorius, vice-president forstudent development.

According to Dienburg-Hoppe there have always been more thanenough volunteers to help out and this year has shown few signs ofa decline.

“I am really excited to participate in the Special Olympics thisyear, I have

never done anything like this before and I am hoping it will bea great experience,” said freshman Jennifer Chambers.

This year the Special Olympics will be taking place on April 12,and most events will be underway by 9:30 a.m. There are no classeson the April 12, as it is a continuation of Easter break.

The Special Olympics were previously held at East High School inDes Moines. However, Simpson was chosen to host this event becausethe facilities in Des Moines didn’t allow indoor events, andbecause the college campus is expected to be able to provide manymore volunteers, as it has students readily available.