Volunteer registration is now open for the 2025 Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) Summer Games, to be held May 30 – June 1 in the Raleigh area. More than 1,000 volunteer opportunities are available for individuals as well as groups.
The SONC Summer Games will feature more than 1,500 Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners, individuals without intellectual disabilities, from across the state competing in athletics, basketball, bowling, gymnastics, powerlifting, swimming and volleyball at venues in Raleigh, Cary and Holly Springs for SONC’s largest state-level competition.
Special Olympics athletes are not asked to pay any costs associated with their participation and an event of the size of Summer Games requires a vast amount of resources, so SONC is seeking support of donations from individuals and corporations.
To kick off the weekend of competition, the 2025 SONC Summer Games Opening Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum on the North Carolina State University campus, featuring performances by Special Theatre Arts of Raleigh (STAR) and Cirque de Vol and Premier School of Dance. Admission to all SONC Summer Games events is free and open to the public.
For media and other inquiries, contact SONC Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Katie McGhee at kmcghee@sonc.net or (804) 698-9741.
Official 2025 SONC sponsors include: Supreme Level: Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics North Carolina, Golisano Foundation, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Publix and IDEAs that Work; Championship Level: Bank of America, North Carolina Knights of Columbus, Sheetz, Dunkin’ and Charlotte FC; Platinum Level: Baxter, A Caring Heart Case Management, Inc., BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, SpeedPro Apex, Mark Jacobson Toyota, HCA Healthcare and Civitan International; Gold Level: Powers & Thomas Midway Entertainment; Silver Level: Wawa, State Employees Combined Campaign, Crossroads Ford of Apex, Bayada Home Health Care, ESPN, Duke Fuqua School of Business, Milestone Strategies, Bonefish Grill, NFL Foundation, Atlas SP, Lenovo, Abound Health, SiteOne Landscape Supply, DMJPS, Obsidian Solutions, Amazon RDU, Altec, Alliance Health, Erie Insurance, Fuquay Varina Ducking for a Cause, CCL North Carolina Facilities, Ellis & Winters LLP, Charlotte’s got a lot, Wells Fargo and Digital Mettle; Bronze Level: Southland Dairy Farmers, BASF’s Awareness of Visible and Invisible Disabilities (AViD), Xerox, CENTURY 21 Triangle Group, Labcorp, The Dale Jr. Foundation, Will Enterprises, NC Able, Wolfspeed, State Employees’ Credit Union, Iron Horse Contractors, Apotheca, Durham Exchange Club Industries, New York Life, PGA Tour Superstore, Bobcat, DukeHealth, Carolina Complete Health, Delta Dental and MPC Certified Public Accountants.
About Special Olympics North Carolina
Since 1968, the organization has used the transformative power of sports to improve the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Nearly 53,000 athletes (individuals with intellectual disabilities) and Unified partners (individuals without intellectual disabilities) in North Carolina inspire thousands of coaches, sports officials, local program committee members and event organizers involved in Special Olympics statewide. SONC offers year-round training and competition in 20 Olympic-type sports on local and state levels as well as health and wellness initiatives to improve the health status and increase access to community health resources for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Youth become agents of change through Unified Champion Schools, an education and sports-based program created by Special Olympics to build an inclusive environment among youth with and without intellectual disabilities as well as empower them to become youth leaders and create change in their community. Engage with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.