Special Olympics Texas Facing Hurricane Harvey-Induced Financial Shortfall

AUSTIN, TX — While its immediate threat has long passed, Hurricane Harvey continues to inflict damage in its aftermath. In the case of Austin-based Special Olympics Texas, it's financial hardship from which it's recovering that's forced the organization to cancel several competition and the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds, officials said Wednesday.

The group has been forced to cancel and postpone several competitions and fundraisers not only in the most affected regions of Houston and the Coastal Bend area, but across the state, officials said. As a result, the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization is forecasting a shortfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars for its 2017 budget, according to officials.

“In less than a month, Harvey has greatly impaired SOTX’s financial health and we project that we will face a large shortfall as we close out the fiscal year,” Dr. Richard Brown, SOTX’s Vice President of Resource Development, said. “We have had to cancel fundraising events due to venues being flooded out. At the same time, some prepaid fundraising participants have requested refunds and sponsors have redirected their SOTX contributions to Harvey relief efforts."

The mission of Special Olympics Texas is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-style sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The events give participants the opportunity to develop physical fitness and demonstrate athletic feats in the company of their families. But without the needed funds, SOTX is now struggling to stage events and offer other programs and services to its 58,333 athletes statewide, officials said.

"Most charitable dollars are going to disaster relief efforts right now – as they should be," Brown said. "However, one of the consequences of Hurricane Harvey is that all nonprofit organizations that rely on charitable contributions have been financially hit.”

Consequently, the group is asking for help from the public. To overcome the deficit, Special Olympics Texas has launched #SOTXSTRONG, an aggressive social media and online fundraising campaign. The organization, which does not receive government aid, has set an ambitious goal of raising $100,000 in the first 30 days of the campaign.

Donations of any amount can be made at www.sotx.org/strong and anyone is welcome to join the campaign as an ambassador, which would enable one to solicit funds for SOTX on their own through an official fundraising page, SOTX officials said. Those unable to make a contribution at this time can still help the movement by spreading the message via social media, officials added.

The shortfall has prompted officials to cut operational costs as much as possible – without sacrificing the programs and competitive events that its athletes and families depend on to improve their quality of life, Brown said: “Our organization is doing everything it can to reduce expenses, but for us to be able to put on the high-quality service that we provide for our athletes, we need help more than ever.”

It costs SOTX $150 to provide a year’s worth of competitions, programs and services for one athlete, fficials noted. Ninety-two cents of every dollar pledged to SOTX goes directly into programming, officials added.

SOTX’s next statewide competition, Fall Classic, is expected to run as planned next month in Bryan/College Station for more than 1,600 athletes, who will be competing in aquatics, bocce, golf and softball.

For more information about the #SOTXSTRONG campaign or about Special Olympics Texas, visit www.sotx.org/strong.

>>> Logo and photos courtesy Special Olympics Texas