The Special Olympics Flame of Hope has embarked on its journey through Greece as it heads to the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games Opening Ceremony. The AFT is a longtime sponsor of Team USA and its 450 athletes and coaches from all over the country. They will be making the trip to Athens to “promote a world that is not dominated by those who are excluded but by those who are included.”

Join me and send off Team USA to Athens with a message of encouragement!

This Saturday, I will be attending a bon voyage event for Team USA in Baltimore, as they leave to compete with more than 7,500 athletes from 185 countries in 22 Olympic-style games.

Join me in wishing Team USA good luck! Send your own message of support to our athletes by clicking here.

To find out more about the AFT’s involvement with the Special Olympics, visit http://go.aft.org/specialolympics. Let us know if you are a Special Olympics volunteer or coach in your community. We want to hear from you about your experiences so we can encourage other members to “be a fan” and get involved.