Special Olympics of Connecticut

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Episode Transcript

(00:02):
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(00:25):
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at okillct dot org. Now here'syour host for Pulse of the Region,

(00:49):
Kate Balman. Hello, Hello,and welcome to Pulse of the Region,
the show where we get to highlightall of the great, wonderful, incredible
things happening here throughout our Heartfeld region. I'm your host, Kate Bauman,
and as always excited about today's show, we have some guests here in the
studio. We have some guests callingin. Overall a fantastic lineup for today,

(01:11):
as today we are getting the pulseabout Special Olympics in Connecticut and how
our corporate community is really getting involved. So I'm a thrilled to introduce our
three guests here. First Matt,who's smiling here and is Yukon sure across
from me, which you know alwaysmakes me happy to see those Huskies number
one in the nation. I'll throwthat in. So first from Special Olympics
Connecticut. He is the chairman ofthe board of directors. Is Matt Nacci.

(01:34):
So, Matt, welcome to theshow. Thank you for having me.
We appreciate it, of course,no very excited to learn more about
Special Olympics. And I know,you know, such a huge organization here
doing so much wonderful things in thestate. So appreciate you taking your time
today to give us some further insight. Thanks, so thank you for having
us again. We've we have ourupcoming games for the Winter Games coming up

(01:57):
in a few weeks. Wonderful you'rereally excited about out that Special Lympics.
We work with people with intellectual disabilitieswe try to use sport to promote inclusion
in the stage, so people knowus for our winter and summer games,
and I'm looking forward to talking toyou guys. We've become much more of
a twelve month, three hundred andsixty five day year organization for sure.
Nice. That is incredible, andcertainly you know all that work can't be

(02:21):
done with some great partners, andwe're thrilled to have two of those partners
here with us today. So firstfrom Pratt and Whitney. She is the
senior manager of Community Operations, MargoBailey. So Margo, welcome to the
show. Yeah, thanks for havingme. We're really excited to be continued
supporder of special Olympics and Connecticut's workand excited to talk to you more also

(02:44):
more today, perfect, perfect.And then also from ever Source, she
is the manager of Emergency Preparedness Trainingand Exercises. Her name is Luianne Cutadella.
Cutadella. Hopefully I'm saying that right, Luianne, and welcome you to
the show. Thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity to talk
about something that we love very much. Participating in that's fantastic, I love

(03:08):
I hear good energy already for theshow. So first things first, Matt,
you know, you've kind of talkeda little bit about Special Olympics Connecticut,
but if you kind of talk,you know, just a little high
level on just about the organization andreally kind of your mission here, you
know, specifically here in our state. Yeah, so Connecticut's really fortunate.
We've been around with the Special Olympicsmovement since the outset. So when Eunice

(03:30):
Kennedy Schreiver created Special Olympics the movement, we were right alongside that, and
Connecticut was one of the first statesto really take a leadership role in that
we do do things for our athleteswho are and I want to be very
clear about this, our athletes aresome of the most competitive, funniest,
most empathetic people you can ever bearound. Anyone who's volunteered at our events,

(03:53):
you kind of fall in love withthem really quickly. But in addition
to doing events with them, wewant to promote diversity and equity and inclusion.
That's a huge thing in the world, rightfully, So people don't always
look at individuals with intellectual disabilities aspart of you know, a unique diverse
community. Right So one of thethings we want to do is show the

(04:13):
community all the assets people with IDare bringing to our community. We have
an amazing staff led by our CEO, Mike Mason, a great board of
directors, but we really can't dowhat we do without partners like Pratt and
ever Source. I got involved withSpecial Olympics almost forty years ago because of
ever Source and its predecessor, NortheastUtilities. Okay, yes, so what's

(04:35):
special about our organization is whether it'sthe athletes, the volunteers, the coaches,
or you know, fortunately for usour corporate partners, these are decades
long relationships. You know, we'reincredibly blessed. Definitely, No, that's
wonderful to hear in forty years.So that's I mean, that's huge,
and it definitely you know, youhit it. Where's Connecticut is really special.

(04:56):
And I think some of the topicsand conversation we're talking about today this
is not something that happens everywhere aroundthe country or in many places around the
country. And you know, hopefullyI'm not speaking out of line with that
comment. No, even around theworld, and we're going to talk about
unified sports today. But unified sportsis something where we partner athletes with people
that don't have intellectual disabilities, andthat's become a worldwide phenomenon that started here

(05:18):
in Connecticut. No, I'm veryexcited to talk more on that. But
first things first, you know,Margot and Leuienne, both Pratt and Whitney
and ever source have you know,huge names here, you know, huge
community presence. So I'm sure manyof our listeners you know, know who
you are. But I always thinkit's great to have a nice little refresher,
So why not, Margaret, I'llput you on the hot seat first,
if you don't mind reminding kind oflisteners who Pratt and Whitney is.

(05:41):
And really, what does your footprintlook like here in our Connecticut region.
Yeah, for sure, so KRIIWhitney is. We're a world leader in
the design and manufacture as little ofthe service of aircraft engines. They're really
powering some of the airplanes that peoplearound the world fly on. And we
have a very large our headquarters isin Connecticut that we are a division of

(06:04):
RTS and we have thousands of employeesboth in the Greater Hartford and Middletown areas.
So one of the things that inmy role that I get to do
is help connect employees with causes likeSpecial Olympics and others around the community.
And we're we're excited because we havebeen it's close to the nearly I think

(06:27):
it's forty six years, not quitefifty years yet, but we're there that
we've been working with Special Olympics ofConnecticut. So it's it's a very it's
a favorite program of folks across acrossour business. So yes, perfect now
and that's our We'll talk a bitmore about kind of just the volunteering,
all the different integrations because certainly Ithink so many, so many great things

(06:51):
happening there and Leuienne, you know, I think ever Source may have a
similar story as Matt teed up alreadyin terms of partnership. But if you
could talk a little bit just firstoff about ever Source and your presence here
in our market. Absolutely so.We're an energy utility. We cover our
regions in New Hampshire, Massachusetts,and Connecticut. In Connecticut specifically, we

(07:15):
have gas, water, and electricity. We have well over a million customers
in Connecticut and as Matt alluded to, we've been almost doing this for forty
years in Connecticut, We have definitelybeen hosting the Winter Games for the last
thirty five years. I myself havebeen involved for twenty years and I've been

(07:38):
the venue director for our cross countryand snowshoeing for the last sixteen years.
Very nice. Oh this is good. I like it. We've got pros
here today. I was just goingto say that I need you guys just
to like tell me what you wantto talk about. You don't need me
to ask questions. Perfect. Sowinter Games, Yeah, snowshoeing, all

(07:59):
the good stuff coming up in March, So Matt tell us all about them.
So the Winter Games are March secondand third. They're kind of all
over central Connecticut. As Luanne said, ever Source up in Windsor, they
host our snowshoeing and are cross countryskiing. Incredible group of volunteers there,
ever Source, whether they're retired everSource employees or former Northeast Utilities employees.

(08:22):
You know there are people there thatare coming and making snow for us.
We're one of the few places thatyou know, they take care of everything
with snowmaking for us. There's states, you know, Vermont and New Hampshire
some years can't have their Winter Games. If the snow's not right, which
is kind of bizarre when you thinkabout where they are New England, right,
we never have that issue because ofthe volunteers that come in at ever

(08:45):
source. And I'm hoping the SpecialOlympics team is going to talk to Luan
and some of the people over there. I'm hoping to be able to do
an overnight stay with them and makesnow one day because this is my last
year on the board of directors,so it's kind of like a bucket list.
Yeah, exactly, so they'll behosting that. Pratt does an amazing
job. They open up one oftheir hangars and they do unified Floor Hockey

(09:07):
show and that's just kind of especiallyon a cold day. That's a nice
place to visit because it is anindoors facility. But as you're watching these
kids play floor hockey, you gointo another room and you see all the
old Pratt jet engines. It's areally special place to visit. And those
are two large venues. We're doingspeed skating and figure skating at the International

(09:28):
Skating Center, and gymnastics is happeningat Farmington Valley Gymnastics. So I mean
you're talking about thousands of athletes that'llbe participating, even more volunteers, and
again it's it's how I got involved. And we've we've moved into other areas,
but really Winter Games and Summer Gamesare kind of our signature event.

(09:50):
And so we're a month away andreally gearing things up right now. Nice
and now are all the athletes kindof where are they coming from? Is
it Connecticut based or all over thestate, So it's across the state of
Connecticut. We will occasionally and againit depends on whether their local state has
programs. You know, in thepast, if someone hasn't had snow and
they would like to come participate.You know, we're an inclusive organization,

(10:11):
so if you want to come participate, we'll do our best to accommodate that.
But it is athletes from Litchfield Hillsdown to Stonington, Stamford, up
to stores. I mean, itis all over the place and they kind
of come in on and collect incentral Connecticut and we have we have dances,
we have events. You know,I love giving medals away. That's

(10:33):
like my favorite thing to do duringduring the weekend. But it is a
special, special group of people andthey are I can tell you some of
the most competitive athletes I've met inmy life are special Olympics athletes. Okay,
that's wonderful. It's I'm sure,you know, so great to be
a part of. And it soundslike, you know a lot of companies
are participating with that, and youknow, Luienne, it seems so the

(10:56):
kind of hosting of the snowshoeing andaverything making of the snow would love to
hear a little bit more from you, just really, how else is ever
source kind of getting involved in theWinter Games this year and in years past.
Yeah, So I have a team, and the team does it all.
Believe me. I have a teamof about thirty five leads and they

(11:16):
have teams underneath them, approximately eightyand they they set it all up.
And as that had mentioned, thesnowmaking is a huge effort. We set
up all the equipment and everything atthe beginning of January. And as I
said, we've been doing this forover thirty five years. The people on

(11:37):
the team, it's the same peopleyear after year after year, and even
after they retire, they come backand still support the team. So the
snow showing, I'm excuse me,the snowmaking team consists of a lot of
retirees, which is amazing. Sowe set up all the equipment, but
then we can't make snow until wehave three days of freezing weather. Okay,

(12:00):
we have those three days. It'stwenty four hour on call service.
Somebody's got to be there at alltimes, and that's where Matt wants to
come in. And so every chancewe get until the Olympics comes in the
first week of March, every chancewe get, we make snow, and
we just make mounds and mounds ofsnow and then we bring in the snow

(12:22):
groomers and lay it all out theweek of the Winter Games. So that's
one thing. They're the thing thatwe do. We support the awards for
the speed skating and the figure skating, and then my team not just the
snowmaking, but my team sets upthe awards, the food. We also

(12:43):
we get the teams the names ofthe folks that are going to come and
participate. But we break those intoheats. So on Saturday they're practicing,
I have an it group that comesin and records all the heat and then
Sunday's the competition. They get theirawards. So there's a huge effort that
takes place. We start planning inDecember and the event always goes off.

(13:07):
It's a fantastic weekend. And I'lljust echo what Matt had said. There
is nothing better than an athlete thepride on their faith when they get their
awards, and then when they runup to you after they get their awards
and say, look at what I'vedone. There is nothing better than given
that athlete a hug and saying it'sjust fantastic. And this is why people

(13:31):
come year after year after year tohelp and support. It's it's definitely I'm
getting the chills, I have tobe honest. It's sounds yeah, just
absolutely incredible. And you know,to hear people who have retired and are
still coming back and it sounds likethey're probably begging. They wouldn't take no
for an answer, So which isI mean that just truly speaks to the
impact of the event. Yeah,it's impossible for us to do what we

(13:56):
do without our corporate partners like theseorganizations and others. It's a it's a
blessing. You know. One ofthe things we're always talking about is how
do you the people that are partof this organization and that volunteer and donate
in this way. How do youkeep that going decades after decades because they've
you know, at some point,and I don't blame them, right forty
years into it, you've really puta lot of time right and you're looking

(14:18):
for people to come in. Soactually, you know, the snowmaking team,
I think there's a couple like generationsin that group where it's been passed
down. My involvement is a isa generational thing. My kids are now
starting to participate in as unified athletes. So it's a special organization that's easy
to cheer for. And you know, one of the things we tell we

(14:39):
tell our sponsors and I think youknow, Margot and Leuimne would agree,
it's an incredible team building exercise.If you're looking for a corporate event where
you want to get your team together, you know, we have volunteers that
are there year long and for decades. But we have day of events.
If you're interested in just participating inthe day with your team or your family,
we will f find a place foryou to go. Okay, and

(15:01):
that's always a wonderful opportunity as well. That's definitely and we'll plug a little
bit here. But if people areinterested in volunteering, where's the best place
for them to go to get moreinformation? Visit our website sooct dot org
and you will see links where youcan click on a link directly and it'll
take you to our director of VolunteerServices. And again, depending on whether
you want to be there for aday. You know you're interested in going

(15:24):
to March second or third, andmaybe our summer games if you prefer being
a little warmer, if you wantto participate in one of our penguin plunges
that are starting to go on now, I mean that website will give you
all of the different areas you canhelp out. Okay, great, perfect
and Margo want to hear more aboutPratt and Whitney's participation. Sounds like the
floor hockey's going on there, butkind of you talk a little bit more

(15:45):
about your employee engagement too, Yeah, for sure. I mean we're not
quite making snow, but we aretransforming a big airplane hangar into a floor
hockey area. You know, it'sour version of the guard any part.
So similarly, we have a teamof super dedicated folks that you know,

(16:08):
not only have it, we've beendoing this for close to twenty five years
the floor of hockey, specifically atour hanging station. But not only have
these folks on this team, likeyou know, grown through their careers both
at Pat and Whitney, but alsojust as continue to be volunteers, Like
we have folks who started as internsat the companies who are now vice presidents

(16:30):
and like the whole time, throughouttheir whole career transition, have been on
this team, uh, supporting,making sure that this event as well as
the summer games go out, gooff without a hitch. And it's the
mass point that he was just makingor really resonated with me because it's people
really do have. This is areally great team building opportunity for our folks

(16:53):
to get them together. It becomesa huge tradition and to be able to
you know, work together to supportthese athletes. Uh, it is truly
like nothing else. And to seehow how passionate they are, how even
you know, how much fun theyhave while they're while they're playing the games.

(17:14):
Like there's the competitiveness, but it'salso like you can just be the
pure joy as well. So Ithink that's what keeps our our volunteers coming
back. We have dozens of employeeswho support both with you know, the
the prep and getting the room setup to become that uh floor hockey uh
in stadium if you will, toalso supporting with the with the athletes throughout

(17:37):
serving as referees, et cetera.So, uh yeah, it's it's truly
one of the cornerstones of our ourwinter volunteer efforts. Uh. Whitney and
Connecticut. Definitely, No, itcertainly sounds like that. And I'm sure
too from a you know, wetalk a lot on this show and we
hear all the time, you know, what are employers doing to help kind
of retain and engage their employees.I have to imagine Margot that this is

(18:00):
you know, probably a big pieceof that that culture and what keeps people
you know around it. Perhaps,Yeah, definitely one hundred percent. And
you know, especially as you knowmore people doing the hybrid workforce post COVID,
it's been it's just really we volunteeropportunities to continuing building that culture,

(18:23):
building that sense of belonging. Soit says belonging not only with the company,
but its sense of belonging of howwe can make our communities more diverse.
I love it, absolutely love that. So next I want to kind
of shift gears a little bit andtalk about unified sports because this is something,
as you mentioned, kind of firstin the country. Really all started
here in Connecticut. So first off, you don't mind giving a little bit

(18:45):
of the background, Max, Ithink that's so important to highlight. Yeah,
so the idea for unified sports actuallycame from our former CEO and president,
Bo Doherty. He really was abeliever in the movement of some of
the stigmas people have against those thathave intellectual disabilities. It's just they don't
know, they haven't spent enough timewith people. And it's understandable if you

(19:08):
just never interacted with someone with ID. But he also thought the best way
to approach that was to, especiallyat a young age in school, if
possible, let's just start having interactionsand start being on teams together. Sports
are a great way to bring peopletogether. As you were saying, I
was at the Yukon game last night. There was ten thousand people that were

(19:30):
really excited to be together, right, so you had this common thing to
cheer for, and so Bo reallypushed for that probably twenty years ago.
Twenty five years ago now, andthere was some resistance quite frankly initially from
the Special Olympics community. We haveour athletes, we don't want people that
don't have intellectual disabilities taking away someof their opportunities. And the idea was,

(19:51):
that's not what we're doing right.We're trying to address inclusion and using
sports as the tool to bring peopletogether again. That started with Bo's idea
in Connecticut and we did some softball. Now we have unified basketball, unified
soccer, unified floor hockey, unifiedbachi. I mean, we're getting really

(20:12):
creative, but you know, we'rein the vast majority. I think it's
something like ninety five percent of publichigh schools. Now, if you hear
about unified sports, that is aSpecial Olympics program. So I was going
to ask, what's the tank.So we work, we partner with CIAC
and we have a great staff fromof former teachers, principals, athletic directors

(20:33):
who work with Special Olympics now onthat and we're entering prime unified basketball season.
You know, the big goal forus now is just to start moving
from high school level into middle schoollevel and then even elementary school so I
live in Glastonbury. My daughter that'sin an elementary school in glastonbury's part of
a unified team. I have adaughter in middle school who is part of

(20:56):
a unified basketball team. They're partnerathletes. Right. So the whole idea
is if we introduce people to thisexperience earlier on in life, like anything,
is, they grow up, thisis not an issue, right,
they start to value people with intellectualdisabilities. Is again someone who's not it's
not a problem. They're bringing abenefit to the table. It's a unique

(21:18):
experience, right. So it's somethingthat again started here and now there's unified
croquet and unified there's unified sports inIndia. Now, I mean it's become
like a worldwide phenomenon where there's millionsnow of athletes and partner athletes. So
it's kind of where we're probably growingthe fastest. We still do our traditional

(21:40):
sports. We have traditional basketball teamsthat are just people that have intellectual disabilities.
But the growth that we've seen hasreally been in this unified space.
And now we're you know, we'reeven talking about starting to try to partner
with colleges. So we've I've hadsome conversations with Yukon about I was going
to say, Okay, tell usmore. Well, you know, one
of the things that happens I haveso you know, I have a nephew

(22:02):
that has intellectual disabilities. His sisterdoes not, So he has a twin.
She's getting ready to go to collegeright now. He doesn't have that
opportunity. He's going to stay inhigh school for a little bit and then
move on. And so these peopleare forming unbelievable relationships playing unified sports in
high school, and then their partnerathletes are moving on to different jobs or

(22:22):
colleges and we're losing some of thoserelationships. And so we're trying to find
ways to continue the relationships that arebuilt because it's true friendships, right,
and they still stay connected through socialmedia, but we're trying to find ways
to give them reasons to get together. So, and I'm sure the people
at Special Olympics will kill me forsaying this, but one of the things
I'm really trying to push is likeworking with Yukon and local schools to say,

(22:47):
how Yukon has a great Special Olympicsclub, what can we do to
start to connect some of our athletesthat are still in high school and have
them have those college campus experiences.So Yukon's been incredible working with us so
far. They're helping provide tickets sothat our athletes can go to sports event.
So that's something during my last yearon the board, I'd really like
to try to solidify on the wayout. But it's an incredibly important part

(23:14):
of the Special Olympics movement. Andagain, this whole thing is about let's
promote inclusion, but let's use sportsto do it. Okay, No,
that's absolutely incredible. And if theyyell at you, then that's okay.
I think you've got a good lastyear coming up and doing the snowmaking and
this partnership with Yukon absolutely incredible.I get yelled at a lot, so
it's fine, you're good to that. And now one more question for you

(23:36):
here is you know the inclusion efforts. You know it's in addition unified Sports,
Special Olympics, there's also other thingsthat are happening here kind of throughout
the greater Hartford region, and wouldlove if you could just kind of highlight
that. I'm sure at a highlevel. If not, we'd need probably
more time. But if you couldtouch on some things and the works they
are listen. I think you know, in my opinion, we all have

(23:56):
an obligation to give back in anyway we can, and I think some
of the organizations that we're working with, like our corporate partners, are helping
us do that. From a specialOlympics perspective, I want our athletes to
have the best possible opportunities that theycan. So we're starting to have conversations
with people in the workforce. Whatcan we do to help our athletes during

(24:19):
the games? But are there opportunitiesfor them to join the workforce where we
can help highlight those things. SoI think Connecticut again, we're in a
really great space. We have alot of great nonprofits. Quite frankly,
we're pretty spoiled with that. Iwas talking the other day with my friend
Jason Jackebowski from food Share. They'redoing some incredible things. Again, Yukon's

(24:41):
really trying to increase the presence ofwhat it's doing. So, you know,
I'm very thankful for nonprofits the Alliance. Quite frankly, I serve on
the Chamber of Commerce board in Hartford, so we're always trying to do things
that we can help promote inclusion allover the place, to help grow business
all over the place in Hartford downtown, which is obviously important right throughout the

(25:03):
other neighborhoods in Harford. So Ifeel very fortunate to be a part of
it, the movement, quite frankly, but really excited about where things are
going. Definitely, definitely, andyou know, and again a lot of
that goes back to our corporate community, I think is something that's so unique
and special here also, and Margotand Leuianne, you know, you've talked
about a lot about the volunteering effortsthat you or your organizations are doing around

(25:25):
Special Olympics. Would love to justopen the floor a little bit to have
each of you kind of share there'sI know both of your organizations are doing
other community partnerships and so why notMargo, I'll send that question over to
you. First, is if youtalk just a little bit more kind of
about what Pratt and Whitney really isdoing here day to day in the community.
Yeah, love would love to.I mean, we have we're coming

(25:47):
up close to one hundred years ofPratt and Whitney and obviously started in Connecticut,
and we have a variety of differentthings that we focused in on as
an urchechs business are real focus areasour stem mill bets support and then community
in terms of how which nonprofits wework with, So it ranges to many

(26:07):
things from the local Boys and GirlsClub, which is an RTX pillar partner
at the national level where we've beenengaged. We were longer than that with
the local Boys and Girls Club herein Hartford, to working with folks at
the New England Air Museum, whichobviously there's a lot of ties in there
with from the aviation space. Andour employees are are also doing a lot,

(26:32):
whether it's with Special Olympics, orwhether it's you know, doing mentorship
programs with the Girls to Code Cluband East Hartford, or whether they're supporting
at Connecticut Food Share local food Bank. They're going out and geting into the
communities. And I think another's quitetoo that's important to note as well.
I mean this isn't a little bitmore of our internal community, if you

(26:52):
will, but we have a reallystrong employee resource group or ERG network as
we call it, and one ofthe one of those ERG networks are RTX.
Adapt Network is focused on building communitywithin the organization and building, you
know, in a similar way withthe intents of the unified Sports program that

(27:15):
Matt was talking about of getting morepeople to appreciate one another even if they
do have a different you know,different levels of neurodiversity, and collaborating together
on projects and celebrating the differences thatwe see internally. And obviously those folks
are also doing a lot in thecommunity too with special Olympics and other organizations

(27:38):
too to support that uh, thatdiverse, that equable and inclusive world that
we all want to live in.Definitely, No, certainly, and it's
certainly makes such such an impact hereand you know it's it's incredible. For
almost one hundred years, Pratt andWhitney really you know, continues that community
support. So thank you to youand all the prot and Whitney employees really

(27:59):
just making such a difference here inour community. Our pleasure for sure.
Again, it's something people love todo and yeah, we always want to
help a weekend perfect one. Welove having you do it too, and
same with ever source. You know, Leu Anne is if you could touch
a little bit too on your volunteerefforts. I know one of my cousins

(28:21):
works for ever Source and one ofhis favorite things whenever someone asks what he
does, he tells us about thevolunteer opportunity that he just did. So
it's you know, it's more tohim than just a job working at ever
Source. It's really about that community. And if you could highlight some of
the other projects and programs that eversource is involved in, yeah, absolutely
one of the things I would saya model for ever Sources. We don't

(28:42):
only serve the community, but welive in the community and we strive to
make things better. That's our goal. And I can't tell you the volunteerism
the efforts are are unbelievable to methat the company promotes it and wants us
to go out and participate. Iknow myself. One of my volunteering efforts

(29:03):
was to go down and paint awoman's center in New London. It was
one of the greatest opportunities that Ihad as far as my whole team went
as a team to clean up thewoman's center and paint whatever needed to be
done, and it was a greatIt was a great team effort. But
not only that is the same thingson the food centers were big with United

(29:26):
way we do a huge United Waycampaign and any anything that anything that United
Way needs throughout the year, we'rethere to support that. One of the
things that I can tell you,my day to day job is not involved
with all the volunteerism, so Idon't I'm not intimate with everything that's going
on. But we have a newsletterthat goes out every day and within that

(29:52):
newsletter are the volunteer opportunities for thatmonth, and it goes out to our
almost ten thousand employees and it rangesfrom going to an animal shelter, helping
clean up a forest, helping cleanup the Connecticut River, going to food
banks, and during the holiday timehelping with food the food banks for Thanksgiving,

(30:17):
for Christmas. It's just the opportunities, mentoring opportunities for the schools.
They're all out there and they presentthat to us daily and they ask who
wants to go, and we signup and you show up though, too,
and you show up, and that'sone of the things, as you
stated at the beginning, that asan employee, it's amazing to us.

(30:41):
We want to do it, andit's one of the benefits of working Forever
Source. We live in the communitiesand we want to better the communities that
we live in. Definitely, well, thank you to you and also to
all of your teammates at ever sourcefor again kind of just doing the work
that really makes us great here inmy opinion, and I think in the
opinion of any thank you of course. Well that we've wrapped up, I

(31:06):
think we could probably sit here andtalk for a lot longer, but we
are at the conclusion. So Ido want Matt, if you don't mind
giving just reminding people again special Olympicsof Connecticut, the Winter Games coming up.
Where can people get more information aboutthe games and the organization as a
whole. So again, the gamesare happening on March second and third,
and we have If you're interested ingoing to Penguin Plunges or unified basketball tournaments

(31:30):
that are happening that over the nextmonth, go to sooct dot org.
There's a full calendar of all ofour events and they'll let you know how
you can help out, or youcan just go support the effort. Fantastic
Well, Matt, thank you somuch. Margo Luan, thank you so
much for being on the show today. Really appreciate it. Thank you of
course, perfect for all the detailsabout today's show, you can visit Metrohartford

(31:51):
dot com. We would like tosay thank you to our show partner Okill
and as always, we say thankyou to you for listening. I'm Kate
Awman. Go out and make todaya good day here in Connecticut. Hmm