While standing at the bottom of a ski slope, Pam Wagner, vice president of games and competition for Special Olympics Iowa, watched two “college guys” successfully complete a run.

However, when the two skiers reached the bottom and were within earshot, she realized they weren’t typical “college guys” after all. The two skiers were Special Olympics athletes.

“[The athletes] inspire you because of the type of person they are,” she said.

Rich Fellingham, executive director of Special Olympics Iowa, said there are only 11 full-time staff, but more than 15,000 volunteers every year are needed to help serve the 11,000 athletes. Volunteers are essential to the Special Olympics.

Special Olympics seeks to recruit close to 1,000 volunteers for the summer games being held on the ISU campus, May 24 to 26. Volunteer applications are due April 27 and can be found at the Ames Convention and Visitor’s Bureau at 232-4032.

Wagner said students will benefit from the experience because “it teaches us how to behave, how to interact with someone who is handicapped.”

With up to 3,500 athletes participating, volunteers are needed to assist by being timers, escorts and street blockers.

“We’ve had really good success with students being involved,” Fellingham said. “Any student that comes [to volunteer] wants to come back again and again.”

For the past 38 years, Special Olympics Iowa, an official part of Special Olympics International, has been hosting competitive sporting events for mentally handicapped athletes of various ages and levels of disability.

Every year, 23 sports are held in Iowa, nine of which are held in Ames during May, Fellingham said.

He said the Summer Special Olympics will cost approximately $180,000. The money comes from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, corporate sponsors, telemarketing, donations and fund-raising events.

Raising $1.4 million every year isn’t easy, Fellingham said, but “the opportunity to work with the athletes is the culmination of what it’s all about.”