A Perspective
 
           Special Olympics is an international program of year-round sports,
    training and  athletic competition for more than one million children and adults,
    ranging in age from eight to eighty, with mental and/or physical challenges.
    Each athlete receives a minimum of eight weeks of training from volunteer
    coaches in their chosen sport(s) prior to competitions held throughout the year.
 
           In the mid 1970’s, Jay and Nancy Westbrook of Van Nuys, California
    created the Pot-A-Plant program by staffing a booth in the Olympic Village of
    the Southern California Summer Games.  The Olympic Village is comprised
    of volunteer operated booths that provide a variety of activities for participants
    and their families to enjoy during free time.
 
            In the Pot-A-Plant booth, teams of volunteers teach the Olympians how
    to transplant a 2” plant of their choice into an empty 4” container.  The athletes
    are encouraged to “do the work” with instruction and assistance, as needed,
    from the volunteers.  When up-potted, the plant is placed in a paper bag that is
    labeled with the plant name and care instructions … for the Olympian to take
    home and nurture.
 
           The Pot-A-Plant booth continues to be one of the most popular activities 
    in the Southern California Olympic Village, the only Summer Games program
    currently having this opportunity.  Often the participants visit the booth in
    subsequent years to give a report on the growth of their plants!
 
            During the course of the Southern California event, Pot-A-Plant utilizes
    30-35 volunteers, working in teams for 2-3 hr shifts, who supervise the up-potting
    of over 1000 plants.  Few forms of unstructured horticultural therapy have such
    major impact with so little investment.
 
           Something so simple can have such long lasting impact! 
 
           For further information, email outreach@potaplant.org.