BEIJING, June 1 -- Special Olympics East Asia partnered up with the Shanghai American Chamber of Commerce, Amway Company Ltd. (China), Bayer Ltd. (China), and Coca Cola Beverages Ltd. (China) today to organize a series of large-scale volunteer service activities during the International Children's Day Unified Sports Celebration held simultaneously in Beijing and Shanghai.

'You can, I also can': With the Special Olympics motto as a backdrop, special education students in Beijing perform a dance on International Children's Day.

More than 1,000 teachers and students from 20 special education schools from Beijing and Shanghai participated in various interactive activities during the daylong event, which also included over 1,000 corporate volunteers and their family members. The volunteers experienced firsthand the incredible talents and endearing personality traits of the special school students, which gave the volunteers a better understanding of the event motto: "Take from society, give back to society."

Special Olympics Unified Sports is a joint sport activity in which Special Olympics athletes train and play together with people without intellectual disabilities in mixed teams. The Special Olympics athletes and their partners can learn from each other, which may enhance the athletes' confidence and establish a long-term friendship between the athlete and partner.

More than a thousand corporate and school volunteers participated in the June 1 events in Beijing and Shanghai.

The volunteers from Amway Company Ltd. (China) also had a chance to visit students at the Beijing Xuanwu Special School, where they found a marked improvement in the students' physical fitness, self-expression and hand-working ability since the company's last visit to the school. This progress is a direct result of the students' continuous practice in drawing, music, dancing and handicraft design.

Ms. Yu, the Director of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications at Amway, was quite impressed with the students' abilities. "The pictures they drew are full of imagination," she said. "In fact, the world within their hearts is rich and much more vibrant than what we've assumed."

At the Dongcheng Special School in Beijing, enthusiastic volunteers from Coca Cola participated in Special Olympics Unified Sports Table Tennis games. Mr. Howard Snyder, Manager of the Special Olympics Project Group at Coca Cola, was thrilled to be able to play with the athletes. "I really haven't had any chances to play with Special Olympics athletes in the past," said Snyder during a quick break from the Table Tennis match. "This time, their performance enables me to see that they are a group of lovely and pure people."

'A group of lovely and pure people': Coca Cola executive Howard Snyder enjoys his first match with Special Olympics athletes.

At the Bayer's "My Heart Beats Everywhere - International Children's Day Unified Sports Celebration 2007" event, an athlete from the Beijing Chongwen Special School was playing "Auld Lang Syne" on his trumpet to entertain the Bayer volunteers.

"How happy I am today," said the excited athlete-turned-musician. "People from Bayer have come to see me and listen to my performance. They are my old friends."

During the entire event, Bayer volunteers actively participated in activities with Special Olympics athletes, watched student performances and encouraged the students to get acquainted and talk with them.

"I'm very happy to join this Children's Day event with Bayer and Chongwen School families," said Mr. Michael Koenig, President of Bayer Group Greater China. "Whether they are from Bayer or Chongwen School, every participant comes with an open heart to accept a new environment. By engaging each other, we learn more about one another."

Bayer Ltd. is one of many multinational companies working with Special Olympics athletes in China.

According to the Dongcheng Special School's physical education teachers, diversified sporting events and activities not only improves the physical fitness of Special Olympics athletes, but also enhances their motor and communication skills. When they participate in sport trainings and events, they do not expect special care, they expect "Equality, Acceptance and Inclusion" and the public's support, encouragement and applause.

Other multinational companies that will hold similar activities in the future include Adidas, Bain Capital, B&Q, IBM, China Int'l Travel Service, Intel, Invitrogen, Microsoft, Moker, Morgan Stanley, Ogilvy, Oishi, UPS China, and Watson Wyatt. Many of these companies have also expressed their willingness to establish long-term partnerships with the schools, visit the schools in the future, and initiate new interactive activities with the athletes to enhance their existing friendships.