The Law Enforcement Torch Run and Special Olympics Manitoba will be joining together for the annual fundraising Truck Drive Saturday morning (September 7th). The event is presented by the Manitoba Trucking Association, and is happening during National Trucking Week.
The Perimeter Highway around Winnipeg will rumble with the sound of passionate Manitoba truckers in a display of support for Special Olympics Manitoba athletes… with many of those tracks taking athletes for the ride.
Joining us Thursday morning was Special Olympics Manitoba’s Melissa Suggitt.
"We start at the TC Energy Center in Ile des Chênes, and we line up all of our trucks," she explained. "The goal is to get 60 trucks this year, semi trucks, pickup trucks. The trucking industry kept us running, and they've kept us running for years. They've raised enough money over the past few years to really ensure our athletes can get on the field and play. What we do is we cheer them on as they do an entire loop of the Perimeter Highway."
You can register ahead of time, or just show up at the TC Energy Centre in Ile des Chênes Click here for more details. Registration Saturday morning begins at 7:30am, with the Truck Drive beginning at 10am.
"It's such a fun day to bring together two communities that really are about the communities they live in, they work in, they play in," Suggitt noted. "The trucking industry and our athletes are very much embedded in the community, so it just perfect."
As you would expect, Special Olympics Manitoba athletes will also be a big part of the day including Manitoba members of the Team Canada training squad preparing for the 2025 Special Olympics World Games in Turin, Italy. Those athletes include Winkler's Janell Brown and Steinbach's William Middleton who have been selected for Snowshoe.
"One of the highlights of the year for our athletes is the Truck Ride, and we have some dedicated athletes that have returned year after year after year, because they also get to hop up into a truck and go for a ride with those truck drivers and honk those horns and raise some awareness for us," she said."
You can list to Morning Show Host Chris Sumner's conversation with Melissa Suggitt, below.