Trading cards, fundraising part of Special Olympics experience

Jake Lieser isn’t letting his notoriety go to his head.

 

But he will give you one of his trading cards.

 

Lieser, 28, is a Waseca resident who will be part of Team Minnesota during this summer’s Special Olympics national competition set for June 20 to 26 at the U of M Twin Cities campus. 

 

The organization holds a national event only once every four years; just over 200 Minnesotans will be taking part, with similar sized teams coming from all over the country. Lieser will be competing in the 4x100 meter relay, the 400 meter walk, and shotput.

 

Between now and June, he says he has some work to do.

 

Participants are asked to raise money to help support the Special Olympics program; the two team members who raise the most will lead Team Minnesota onto the field during the opening ceremony. Lieser says he would be deeply honored to fill that role, and will do what he can to achieve it. “I would like to be in the thousands,” he says of his goals. 

 

For the time being, he is waiting for notice from the organization regarding the fundraising process and procedures.

 

The photo for his trading card was taken last September at a first gathering of the team members. Lieser is thinking of ways the cards could be used in his fundraising; in the meantime, he is taking other steps.

 

A partnership between Midwest Dairy and Cub Foods provided opportunities in February; Lieser and a few other state team members living in the area volunteered to help bag people’s groceries at the Cub Foods store in Mankato in exchange for donations. Other members of the retail chain held similar events all over the state.

 

Anyone looking to find Lieser may come across him at his job at Kwik Trip south in Waseca. As his fundraising plans solidify, he may pop up in other locations in the area as well.

 

Whether he ends up as one of the banner carriers or not, Lieser says he is glad to use some of his time and energy in support of Special Olympics programs because of the many benefits he has seen it provide over the past two decades, when he began taking part as a middle school student.

 

“The idea is all about providing opportunities and getting people to stretch their abilities,” he observes, remembering the pleasure and enjoyment he has seen from Special Olympics participants. “They’re meeting new people, they’re going new places, they’re trying new things and having fun,” he says. 

 

“Whatever I have to do to help support that, it’s worth it.”