Special Olympics Michigan grateful after budget reinstatement


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Roughly 6,000 people filled Kelly/Shorts Stadium during the Special Olympics Michigan State Summer Games' closing ceremony in 2018.

Betsy DeVos faced immediate bipartisan backlash after proposing cutting $17.6 million used to support Special Olympics as part of several budget cuts to the Department of Education March 26.

Donald Trump announced that he has “overridden my people” and restored Special Olympics funding to the proposed budget on March 28.

The Special Olympics Michigan state office is located in Mount Pleasant on Central Michigan University’s campus. Aaron Mills, senior marketing and communications director at Special Olympics Michigan, issued the following statement:

“We express our gratitude to President Trump for re-authorizing funding for Special Olympics school-based programming. He joins a long history of over 50 years of United States Presidents and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle in their support of Special Olympics and the work we do in communities throughout the country.

This is a non-partisan issue and we are proud of our work to create inclusion in 6,500 U.S. schools and among young people. This is a crucial time in our schools and our communities. Programs like Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools are transforming school climates to create a safer and more inclusive world.

We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from Special Olympics athletes, young people, and the community at large and encourage everyone to continue their support of our school-based programming until we have reached all 100,000 schools in the country.”

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