DENVER — In just five days, Denver International Airport will host the annual Plane Pull fundraiser for Special Olympics Colorado. Teams of up to 25 people will compete to see who can pull a United Airlines airplane 12 feet across the tarmac the fastest.
Community
The Special Olympics Plane Pull is back for 2024
All the money raised from the Plane Pull will help fund Special Olympics Colorado, supporting opportunities for more than 23,000 athletes with disabilities.
Finding a job comes with a different set of challenges for people with disabilities. The latest study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that both measures of people with disabilities in the workforce have continued to rise since the data was first reported in June 2008. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities reached a series low in 2023.
Employees like Special Olympics athletes Chris McElroy and David Riley are representative of that trend, working with United Airlines at DIA, as part of the Special Olympics Service Ambassador (SOSA) program. SOSA ambassadors work part time welcoming customers and help them find check-in kiosks, drop off bags and the TSA PreCheck line.
In 2022, we told you about Hanna Atkinson.
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United, Special Olympics team up to make holiday travel a little easier at DIA
But now you get to meet McElroy — who was named Athlete of the Month in June by Special Olympics Colorado. He's been working with United for three years now.
"I love helping customers. They're my first priority here in the airport, and it's always busy here and everything. And I like to see the little kids coming through this airport and getting on the plane safe and sound, " McElroy said.
McElroy shared that without medication, his ADHD would cause him not to be able to focus in a space like an airport.
But the SOSA program takes that into account.
"They are so excited and so committed to learning, and how they take on challenges in their life and bring such positivity to everyone around them is one of my favorite parts," Jonna McGrath, vice president of airport operations at DIA, said.
Riley said he has sensory integration dysfunction and cognitive delays, making math hard for him. But that's not what defines him. In 2020, Riley was inducted into the Special Olympics Hall of Fame.
Denver7 is a proud partner of Special Olympics Colorado and the Plane Pull.