UPS will donate its logistics skills and warehousing services for the Special Olympic World Games in Los Angeles, July 25 through August 2. The games are expected to attract 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches.
The integrator will coordinate the receipt, inventory, staging and movement of small parcel and freight from multiple staging locations throughout Southern California to all L.A.-based Special Olympics World Games venues. It will also donate 10,000 square-feet of warehouse space to provide storage for apparel and equipment throughout the week-long event. UPS will also supply more than 300 volunteers, who will use the same inventory and tracking services UPS offers its customers around the world.
The Flame of Hope torch traveled from Athens aboard a UPS aircraft, stopping at the UPS hub at Cologne Bonn Airport, before departing for Philadelphia. The flame was then transferred to a UPS vehicle bound for Washington, D.C., to be delivered to Special Olympics representatives.
In-kind support includes coast-to-coast movement of 10 vehicles for the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department through UPS Autogistics for use in the Unified Relay Across America. UPS will also supply drivers, private warehousing and fulfillment to store, track and retrieve apparel and game gear.
According to organizers, the Special Olympics World Games will be the largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world this year, and the single biggest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games.