The Special Olympics Torch Run, which passed through Northern Santa Barbara County in early June, is a partnership with law enforcement agencies to raise money for the Special Olympics. More than 3,000 personnel participate. In 2014, they raised more than $1.4 million.
Santa Maria Detective Nate Totorica has been running the torch for the past seven years. “I started about five years ago with some guys who are retired now,” he said. For the past two years, he’s participated as a liaison who works closely with Northern Santa Barbara County Special Olympics Coordinator Rudy Gutierrez. Totorica ran or rode in the escort van from Solvang all the way down to Santa Barbara.
“It was pretty cool,” he said. “It’s a way to give back and get out. The group of people, the athletes, they have more joy than the typical person who doesn’t have disabilities.”
After watching a regional Special Olympics meet at Pioneer Valley High School, Totorica was hooked. “You go once, and it’s the kind of thing where you can’t stop going,” he said.
Totorica admires the sportsmanship of the athletes. “When you see how they compete, you see their sportsmanship is different than anyone else’s,” he said. “At the same time, they want to win and they’re competitive.”
Working with law enforcement, Special Olympics raises money through events such as dinners and other running fundraisers. Since its inception in 1981, the organization has raised more than $500 million dollars for the Special Olympics worldwide. The money raised in Northern Santa Barbara stays there.
The very first torch run wasn’t meant to be a fundraiser, rather it was meant to raise awareness. But now it does more than get the word out.
“It’s grown a lot since then,” Gutierrez said. “It’s the largest grassroots fundraising vehicle for the Special Olympics. It provides meals, transportation, uniforms, and buses to go out to the summer games.”
In Santa Barbara County, the run starts on the county line where Highway 166 crosses Highway 101. They run the torch down through Buellton, and the cauldron was lit at Cal State Long Beach on June 13.
Gutierrez, as a member of the run’s support crew, helps drive an old donated SWAT truck converted into a support vehicle. “The runners can hop in if they need a little break,” he said. “It’s a good message for us so that people visually can know what we are doing. It’s a great way for us to publicize what the torch run is,” he said.
Gutierrez said about five helicopters from different law enforcement agencies did flyovers of the run.
“They had an officer rappel out of a helicopter with a torch. They came in and lit the torch. It was pretty neat to see that,” he said.
This article appears in Jun 18-25, 2015.