Remembering Eunice Kennedy Shriver: Founder of the Special Olympics

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Photo Credit: Special Olympics

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics and sister to President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Edward Kennedy, passed away this Tuesday morning at age 88, at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Mass. She started the Special Olympics in response to a mother’s call for a summer camp for teens with developmental disabilities as no other camp would accept them. To think that this sports camp in her backyard now has millions of participants all over the globe. She said that Special Olympics teach “that all human beings are created equal in the sense that each has the capacity and a hunger for moral excellence, for friendship and for love. Whatever the speed of our feet or the power of our arms, each of us is capable of these highest virtues. Intelligence does not limit love, nor does wealth produce friendship.”

Please take the time to visit the Eunice Kennedy Shriver website and post a tribute to her at the bottom of the website.

You are the stars and the world is watching you. By your presence you send a message to every village, every city, every nation. A message of hope. A message of victory.

– Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 1987 Special Olympics World Games, South Bend, Indiana