Lake Land College’s campus will be filled with athletes and volunteers Saturday for the 19th Annual Special Olympics Family Festival.

The event is sponsored by the Illinois Consolidated Telephone Company in Charleston, along with various vendors who contribute to the event. The competition begins at 8 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m.

The Special Olympics Family Festival is given a tremendous amount of assistance from the number of volunteers it receives. Each volunteer is paired up with an Olympian resulting in a “friendship for a day.”

Volunteers must be at least 16-years-old or older to participate.

“Last year, more than 2,000 volunteers helped make SOFF a success, with 600-700 volunteers from the Eastern Illinois University community helping out as ‘Friends-For-A-Day,'” said Sam Jurka, 2002 SOFF chairman.

The Olympians range from children to adults, but a majority are adults.

Laura Zuhone, senior manager of corporate communications at ICTC, said all ICTC employees are involved in this event. The telephone company sponsors this event because it is a special day for the mentally disabled.

The purpose of the day is for the Olympians to have fun, Zuhone said. They are exposed to activities that they do not get to do on a normal day.

The many Eastern students who volunteer to help with the SOFF have a learning and growing experience, Zuhone said. This experience is especially helpful to those students going into the field of special education.

“For the Olympians, the day is a day unlike any other,” Zuhone said.