This past weekend, Special Olympics of Pennsylvania’s Annual Fall Festival took place at Villanova. This event was very exciting and was a great opportunity to volunteer and  see all of the athletes compete. Fall Fest at Villanova is the largest annual student-run Special Olympics event in the world, so there are many students who are involved with this event. 

One way students participated in the Fall Festival run is through joining an “Ice Cube” group. Newly introduced for last Fall Fest, the Ice Cubes are a great way for students to sign up to volunteer for different events. Junior Carlie Pollice described what an Ice Cube is and what students did as a part of these groups. 

“Ice Cubes are specialized groups of student volunteers from all grade levels,” Pollice said. “Students can sign up for a cube group based on the times they are offered and the specializations they focus on for the weekend of (awards, a specific sport, ceremonies, media and publicity, etc.). Ice Cubes are a great way to get involved in the weekend of Fall Fest in a big way. There are four meetings bi-weekly leading up to the weekend of Fall Fest that prepare the cube members for their responsibilities during the weekend.” 

In order to keep track of all of these different Ice Cubes, other students took on roles as Volunteer Coordinators (VC), who worked with their Ice Cubes both before and during Special Olympics (SpO) as a leader. VCs also directly worked with the Special Olympics Committee members depending on their specialization. Pollice was a VC, and she explained how they work in the grand scheme of SpO. 

“VCs are allocated to specific committee specializations and run their specific IC Cube that relates to whatever specialization they are a part of VCs host the bi-weekly meetings for their cubes, making sure information is passed along from the overarching committee as well as making sure everyone is on the same page for the weekend with their specific schedule,” Pollice said. 

Additionally, a big part of being a VC was to spread the word of inclusion to Ice Cubes, as well as to the Villanova community as a whole. By spreading inclusion, VCs embodied the spirit of Special Olympics. Pollice discussed what inclusion means to her and the role it plays in her work as a VC. 

“To me, inclusion means celebrating what makes everyone unique,” Pollice said. “Everyone has a story to share and different perspectives to bring to the table that deserve to be heard. Through being a VC, I hope I have amplified this message to my IC Cube members and inspired them to carry the mission of inclusion with them every day, not just during Fall Fest.” 

Together, the VCs and Ice Cubes worked together to focus on one area within Fall Fest. Whether it is soccer, flag football or bocce, or even events like dining or awards, the groups and their VCs worked hard to ensure SpO runs smoothly. 

“I am so excited to work with the Awards committee this Fall Fest to make the ceremonies as special as possible for the athletes,” Pollice said. “We will be coordinating and running all the awards ceremonies for each sport.”

Among these VCs and their groups, excitement was high. After preparing for Fall Fest, students were ready for SpO to happen and to see all of the joy that it brought. 

“I cannot wait to see all of our hard work come to life to celebrate the amazing athletes we will be hosting this weekend,” Pollice said. 

Fall Fest was a huge success, and the work of the VCs and ICs was a great help in having this awesome event run smoothly.