https://www.gofundme.com/run-rainie-run
A Special Olympics athlete from Hawai'i will head to the World Games to represent the USA in Dubai, and she's hoping her family will be able to come along with her. Rainie Jade Thompson, 26, who has intellectual and mental health disabilities, has been with the Special Olympics non-profit organization for years.
Her father, MMA pioneer T. Jay Thompson, said Rainie was considered the state’s fastest female special Olympics track athlete in 2013. She decided to take a few years off from competing, but now she's back and was selected to fly to Dubai in March. However, while all of Rainie’s travel costs are covered through Special Olympics, other expenses like training gear and family travel aren’t.
“It's a great opportunity for her to go," said T. Jay. "We have a family of six and Dubai and Abu Dhabi are not the cheapest places to go. It's a lot of training and we're gonna miss work. But it's important that we all get to go watch her for sure.”
“My family means the world to me," said Rainie. "It’s my rock basically and the support Special Olympics to get me to get to my dream is just as important because when you support the athlete, you support everything that basically goes in with the organization."
Through her GoFundMe, Rainie is committed to raising $20,000.
Donations can go through runrainierun@gmail.com; 100 percent of the proceeds go towards her trip.
https://www.gofundme.com/run-rainie-run
Video and text courtesy of KITV