Special Olympics is an international program of year-round sports, training and athletic competition for more than one million children and adults with mental or physical challenges.

Special Olympics of Southern California (SOSC) is one of 52 such organizations operating in the United States and serves over 11,000 children and adults, ranging in age from eight to eighty. Each athlete receives a minimum of eight weeks of training

from volunteer coaches in their chosen sport(s) prior to competitions.

In the early 1970’s Jay and Nancy Westbrook began the Pot-A-Plant booth in the Olympic Village, which at the time was sponsored by the Red Cross. In 1980 PIA Hall of Famer, Marvin Weitzenhoffer took over the program when Jay was no longer able to continue … and Toyota took over from the Red Cross.

Part of the event is a festival of SOSC-related booths that participants visit during free time. Marvin’s team of volunteers teaches the Olympians how to transplant a 2” plant of their choice into a 4” container. It is placed in a bag that is labeled with the plant name and care instructions for the Olympian to take home. The Pot-A-Plant booth continues to be one of the most popular booths in the village. Often the recipients will visit the booth in following years to give a report on the growth of their plants!! Something so simple can have such long lasting effect.

Pot-A-Plant has just been integrated into the PIA Cares program as an ongoing project. While it’s not an “installation”, it exemplifies another way in which people are using plants to touch people lives. PIA applauds Marvin and his volunteers for continuing such a worthwhile project and representing our industry in such a professional and caring way.