Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) – Law enforcement personnel representing the SE Minnesota area took off on the final leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Minnesota this morning.

The personnel will run through the area, handing off the torch as part of the Final Leg, a multi-day event in which law enforcement representatives relay the “Flame of Hope” more than 2,000 miles across the state to the Celebration Ceremonies of Special Olympics Minnesota’s State Summer Games on Friday, June 21st.

The officers participating are part of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Speical Olympics, which is the largest grassroots fundraising and public awareness vehicle benefiting Special Olympics Worldwide.

The mission is to raise funds for, and awareness of, the Special Olympics movement across the globe. It started in 1981 in Wichita, Kansas as an opportunity for local officers to volunteer with Special Olympics in the communities in which they live and work. Today, local officers from the 50 United States, 10 Canadian provinces and territories and 32 countries carry the “Flame of Hope” as part of the Final Leg in honor of Special Olympics athletes in their area and around the world.

The Final Leg is a statewide relay/run event put on by the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Minnesota (SOMN). Officers from different departments and agencies across the state work together to carry the torch and the Flame of Hope more than 800 miles to Summer Games in support of SOMN. The Final Leg runs will take place all across Minnesota the week of June 17-21, cumulating in St. Paul on Friday evening, June 21 at Summer Games Celebration Ceremonies.

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