W

hen you talk to Pamela Sparks, you immediately 

feel her passion for an organization that she not only 

works for, but one that has improved her family’s 

quality of life. As the County Director for Special 

Olympics Florida since 2016, Pamela’s energy and excitement for 

the organization, its athletes, and families has made an impression.  

The ultimate objective of Special Olympics Florida is to help people 

with intellectual disabilities participate as productive and respected 

members of society at large, by offering them a fair opportunity 

to develop and demonstrate their skills and talents through sports 

training and competition, and by increasing the public’s awareness of 

their capabilities and needs.

Pamela fi rst became involved with Special Olympics as a “Fan 

in the Stands” in 2005 when her son, Chase, and his teammates 

participated in basketball through the Silver Sands School. She 

later volunteered at state games and traveled to other parts of the 

state for surfi ng and stand up paddle competitions. In 2016 she was 

chaperoning state games for golf and realized the organization was 

without a county director. After lots of thought and prayer, she 

decided to apply for the job, along with 108 other applicants. Pamela 

had a 6-fi gure job and going to work for a non-profi t would be life 

changing for her. She put it in God’s hands and was soon offered 

the position. The job has rewarded her in many more ways than 

monetarily.  Pamela was active in the community and she took the 

bull by the horns as the Okaloosa chapter was in dire need of public 

awareness and needed to additional sports.  

Since Pamela’s involvement with the organization there has been 

substantial growth. State wide, Special Olympics Florida serves 

nearly 50,000 athletes including Unifi ed partner and Young Athletes. 

Okaloosa County has been a great contributor to that number. Special 

Olympics Florida proudly recognized Okaloosa County with three 

awards in 2018: #1 Medium-sized County for Greatest Percentage 

Increase in Number of Unifi ed Partners; #1 Medium-sized County 

for Greatest Percentage of Sports Certifi cations Added; #1 Medium-

sized County for Greatest Percentage of Athlete Health Screenings.

Special Olympics never charges an athlete/unifi ed partner or their 

parent/caretaker for participation regardless of their demographics 

or economics. They provide everything from water at practice, to 

uniforms, transportation, food, and lodging. Special Olympics 

Florida – Okaloosa County is not government funded – they have to 

fundraise locally so every dollar matters. It is important for Special 

Olympic donors to make their contributions locally.  

Special olympics Florida - Okaloosa County is located at 

1978-B Lewis Turner Boulevard in Fort Walton Beach. Visit 

SpecialOlympicsFlorida.org/okaloosa or email pamelasparks@sofl .org.

story by

 Greg Alexander 

  |  

photos provided by

 

Special Olympics Florida

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