Badges and Buckets for Special Olympics Athletes

Photo By Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

Several volunteers, sports coaches, athletes and off-duty law enforcement officers spent three days last week in front of Molokai Public Library battling the Kaunakakai heat while raising awareness and funds for the island’s Special Olympics athletes.

“This is a great event. This is a great partnership between the (police) department and Special Olympics,” Maui County communications police officer Emmanuel Bello said of Badges and Buckets, the largest annual grassroots fundraiser event held by police departments across Hawaii. 

“We are offering $15 donations,” he said on the last day of the fundraiser. “With a $15 donation, you can choose from either a hat or a shirt.”

The event, Bello said, is “very important” because it raises money for Special Olympics athletes to compete on other islands. It helps to cover airfare, lodging, meals and other travel-related expenses.

“Any kind of donation that anybody can provide is actually really beneficial for these guys,” he said. 

Since 1968, Special Olympics has grown to serve 7,200 athletes and partners in Hawaii, holding more than 50 competitions in 10 Olympic-type sports across the state, according to their website.

Their mission is “to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities,” giving them opportunity to develop fitness, show courage, have joy, and share gifts, skills and friendship with families, athletes and the community.

There are 10 adult Molokai athletes who compete in the Special Olympics, according to Rita Kalahiki, Molokai area director for Special Olympics Hawaii. Many athletes volunteered at the Buckets and Badges, including Tom. 

A former special education teacher at Molokai High School, Kalahiki has known Tom since he was 8 years old.

“He helps me coach track and field,” Kalahiki said. “I’m the head coach of track and field and head coach of basketball, so I brought him up to mentor coaching. And what better way for an athlete to coach athletes?” 

Each county in the state of Hawaii has their area games, and qualifying athletes compete in the state’s Summer Games. For some competitions, however, Molokai athletes must travel to Maui to compete in order to qualify for the state games on Oahu.

“All the money (fundraised) here helps us fly,” Kalahiki said.

Bello said the event raised $5,200 just in the first two days.

“That’s really good for an island with a population of only seven thousand. A lot of people who may not have that money have donated,” Bello said Friday morning.

At the closing of the event Friday afternoon, Badges and Buckets raised $7,200 to help Special Olympics athletes from Molokai, according to Kalahiki. She said the Special Olympics Molokai delegation expressed their “deepest gratitude to our amazing community that gave from their heart.”

“The Molokai community has blessed us again,” Bello said. 

The event, Bello said, has been a partnership between the police and Special Olympics for many years. 

Badges and Buckets is a rebranding of Cop on Top, a program held in Hawaii since 2001, and that has raised millions of dollars toward Special Olympics athletes. The event’s name changed to Badges and Buckets in 2023, but its core remained the same. 

“We are just trying to help out the community,” Bello said. “We try to provide our services to them as best as we can, and this is our one way that we can do that.”

Visit www.sohawaii.org for more information or to donate.