From the New York Times (10/24/09):
Work at Eye Level
As told by Tim Shriver to Patricia R. Olsen
WHEN I was growing up, we lived on a farm in Maryland and had dogs, chickens and cattle. In 1962, my mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, started a summer camp in our backyard for children with intellectual disabilities, which was the beginning of Special Olympics...
I joined Special Olympics as C.E.O. in 1996. I’ve tried to shift the conversation here from what Special Olympics does to what it means. It’s often seen as a service organization, but I believe that it’s a civil rights movement. Volunteers might think that they’re only coaching or serving water at a track and field event, for example, but they are doing far more. My mission has been to remind them that they are serving the search for human dignity and acceptance...
Work at Eye Level
As told by Tim Shriver to Patricia R. Olsen
WHEN I was growing up, we lived on a farm in Maryland and had dogs, chickens and cattle. In 1962, my mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, started a summer camp in our backyard for children with intellectual disabilities, which was the beginning of Special Olympics...
I joined Special Olympics as C.E.O. in 1996. I’ve tried to shift the conversation here from what Special Olympics does to what it means. It’s often seen as a service organization, but I believe that it’s a civil rights movement. Volunteers might think that they’re only coaching or serving water at a track and field event, for example, but they are doing far more. My mission has been to remind them that they are serving the search for human dignity and acceptance...
...Recently, as I faced the loss of my mother and of my uncle, Edward M. Kennedy, I wanted to be open with my staff and colleagues about our deep sadness. What’s been affirming is that it’s allowed many of the relationships among the people I work with to deepen — not just with me, but with one another. It gave us a shared sense of vulnerability and connection.
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