A lot of different organizations have been trying to figure out what exactly they have to do to get their programming up and running once again, but the Special Olympics Program in Estevan has been able to sort out that mess. After, getting shutdown with everything else in November, most of their programs started up again at the beginning of March according the Kandyce Meili, but the process for getting going again under these restrictions has been going on since January.

"We actually had to apply for an exemption to Special Olympics Saskatchewan, and from there it had to be passed by the business response team which is made up of representatives from Sask. Health, and through that we were able to have our youth programs that are running on Fridays for the month of March as well as the adult swimming program on Saturdays."

Meili is proud of how her board members worked to get their programs up and running once more. It took a lot of time and effort to write up their proposal that would follow guideline, allow for social distancing in practice, and would be affordable to continue running long term.

"We had to put together a proposal of how we would run the programs and what we would do to follow the guidelines and have the social distancing and everything that needed to be done, so it took a bit of work from the board members to put stuff together to get it approved for sure."

Since then, the Special Olympics programs have only been running for a week, but the people partaking in the fun seem to be happy to have it back. Attendance has been down since September to about half of what it had been when there was already restrictions in place before they got shut down completely, and that attendance has taken another hit on this most recent restart. That said, the people involved are enjoying themselves.

"It's been a lot of fun. Everybody's been so excited to get back at it. The attendance is a little bit lower than it has been previously, but there's still been a lot of people coming out."

While they are just getting back running once again, the Special Olympics Estevan crew is already looking towards the future with spring and summer programs. While everything they usually do is still going to be there, they are planning to add something new as the weather warms up.

"We're looking at an adult soccer program for Special Olympics this year. We don't have anything set in motion yet, we're just in the talking stages of it, but we're looking at it for spring/summer."

Some fundrasing opportunities are being tossed around the table right now as well for the summer as some of their major fundraisers. Since their provincial 50/50 was such a success, they haven't needed to raise anything recently to pay for their activities during their restart, but funding and engagement is always welcomed. If you want to make a donation or get involved in their programs, you can do so by either emailing them at specialoestevan@gmail.com, or get in touch with them through their Facebook page.