Trooper, Corporal Raise Funds for Special Olympics

By Melissa Maynarich, NEWS 9

YUKON, Oklahoma -- The Special Olympics is coming up next month and there are dozens of athletes in Yukon training for the event, but they're in need of financial support.

Two service men are helping the athletes, spending day and night atop the Yukon Flour Mill.

"I've got a poncho and my tent," said Trooper Calvin Symes. "We'll try to stay as dry as we can."

It's the first year atop the Flour Mill for Trooper Calvin Symes, but Officer Timothy Peters has camped there before, hoping to call attention to a special cause.

Learn more about the Special Olympics of Oklahoma.

"It's not about us," said Corporal Timothy Peters of the Yukon Police Department. "It's not about the city. It's about raising money for the kids to send them off to Special Olympics."

Both men have family members with disabilities.

Their stunt is rallying the community in support of all intellectually disabled athletes competing in the Special Olympics.

"I know the economy's a little low," Yukon High School teacher Darlene Shoaf said. "I think most people who've given in the past will still help us if they can."

In years past, the money raised has totaled between $20,000 and $100,000.

"My philosophy is...if you go up and raise $30,000 to $40,000, that's great," Peters said. "If you go up and raise $3,000 or $4,000, that's more money than those kids had to begin with."

Both Peters and Symes have been on top of the Yukon Flour Mill since Wednesday 3 p.m. and plan to come down Friday afternoon.