On Thursday, March 26th during dinner hours (4:30pm – 8:30pm), law enforcement officers and local officials will take their oath to “serve and protect” to a new level, trading in their handcuffs and badges for menus and serving trays at the “Law and Orders” event taking place at various Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar locations throughout the Capital District.
Members of the Saratoga Springs Police Department will join the staff at the Applebee’s restaurant at Lowes Drive (Exit 15) to greet customers, bus tables, and serve guests. In return, officers hope to collect tips from diners to benefit Special Olympics New York and the Law Enforcement Torch Run. ®
The Torch Run® is a year-round, grassroots fundraising campaign by law enforcement agencies to benefit their local Special Olympics Program. Each year, officers carry the “Flame of Hope” through the streets of their hometowns and countries and deliver it to their local, state and national Special Olympics games.
Special Olympics is an international, year-round program of sports training and competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities. More than 65,000 athletes in New York train and compete in 22 Olympic-type summer and winter sports. Locally, thousands of athletes from the Capital District participate in training clubs and competitions throughout the year. Special Olympics provides people with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to develop fitness, demonstrate courage, and experience joy as they participate in the sharing of
gifts and friendship with other athletes, their families and the community.
In 2014, Law and Orders night raised nearly $8,000 locally for the athletes of Special Olympics New York, and the LETR program raised more than $1 million statewide. Within the Law Enforcement Torch Run® more than $42 million was raised initiative-wide.
