Limited edition Special Olympics Donut designed by local athlete

Jul 18, 2018 | 1:12 PM

On Saturday you can pick up a special donut at Tim Hortons in support of Global Day of Inclusion and Special Olympics’ 50th anniversary.

The donut is extra special to Grande Prairie because it was created by local Special Olympics athlete, 14-year-old Savannah Lussier.

Savannah’s mom Jennifer Melom says they received an email in April about the opportunity to create the donut.

“Athletes or individuals with intellectual disabilities want and desire the same things as everybody else. They want to be treated the same, they want to be included, they want to play sports, go to the movies…it’s including them in everyday life,” Melom explained when talking about the Global Day of Inclusion.

Savannah’s creation was picked out of 85 applicants across Canada.

“My donut is a Honey Cruller, and chocolate, and red and white sprinkles,” Savannah told our Newsroom.

Savannah even got to film a commercial with SportsCentre’s Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole, something she thought was pretty exciting.

“It was fun, I ate 15 donuts!” she said.

“It was a pretty surreal day, it was pretty cool,” said Melom. “Savannah had quite a fun time. She was a natural, she fit right in there and Jay and Dan are two pretty awesome guys.”

The limited edition donut can be purchased at Tim Hortons restaurants across Canada for $1.59 plus tax. It is only available July 21. All proceeds will go to Special Olympics Canada.

Savannah participates in 5-pin bowling, basketball, curling, and swimming and says bowling is her favourite.

by Sheena Roszell