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City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424
Contact: David Katz, Communications Intern
Phone 952-833-9522 • Fax 952-826-0390 • www.EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Edina Police Department Gears Up for Annual ‘Torch
Run’ in Support of Special Olympics-Minnesota
Edina, Minn., June 19, 2012 – On Thursday, June 21, for the eighth straight year, representatives of the
Edina Police Department will show their continued support for Special Olympics - Minnesota by running the
5-mile Edina leg of the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run.
Sixteen Edina officers and support personnel will join counterparts from five other law enforcement agencies
elsewhere in the western metro division in relaying the ceremonial Special Olympics “Flame of Hope” east
toward Stillwater, the site of the organization’s regional 2012 Summer Games.
The Edina runners will take the torch from the Eden Prairie Police Department at the City border and shuttle
it over the entire breadth of the Edina before passing it off to the Richfield Police Department.
These departments are part of a growing support network that includes nearly 80,000 runners. Nationwide,
the Law Enforcement Torch Run is an invaluable public awareness vehicle, and one of the movement’s largest
grassroots fundraisers.
“These seasonal games are expensive to coordinate. All told, the Torch Runs bring in upward of $30 million
each year that are put toward those Special Olympics event expenses,” said Detective Erik Amundson. “In the
past, Edina alone has raised as much as $9,000 in one year through this and other fundraising events.”
The Edina Police Department also raises funds for Special Olympics – Minnesota through officer participation
in other events, including an annual Polar Bear Plunge.
To donate, or for additional information on the Torch Run and the programs and services Special Olympics–
Minnesota offers to athletes with intellectual disabilities, visit specialolympicsminnesota.org.
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