SHS Boys' Varsity Basketball donates $1,400 to Special Olympics

The Sidney High School Boys' Varsity Basketball team banded together this season to raise more than $1,400 for Special Olympics Nebraska.

As the team prepared to head to the state basketball tournament in March, they worked in cooperation with Katy Hinneman, owner of screen printing and embroidery shop Shirt Tales in Sidney to create and sell t-shirts to raise money, donating $3 for every shirt sold to the organization.

In total, the group raised $664 for Special Olympics Nebraska through t-shirt sales.

A second fundraiser was held by way of a sendoff event held for the team prior to the state tournament. The event, hosted and sponsored by Dude's Restaurant and Day & Night Plumbing and Heating, LLC, featured an auction for a team-signed basketball along with hat sales.

Combined with private donations, the sendoff event raised an additional $760 for Special Olympics Nebraska, bringing the total donation to $1,424.

Special Olympics Nebraska is a non-profit organization that provides year-round sports training, athletic competition and other related programs across the state for special needs athletes. The organization began about 40 years ago and has grown from a few hundred athletes to more than 5,000, and is active in more than 110 communities statewide.