Torch Run Proceeds Benefit Special Olympics Maui

Maui Torch Run Participants. Photo courtesy County of Maui, Lois Whitney.

By Maui Now Staff

Proceeds from two torch runs held this month in Maui County will benefit participants of the Special Olympics Maui.

The annual First Hawaiian Bank Troy Barboza Law Enforcement Torch Run, hosted by the Maui Police Department included a Molokaʻi event on May 4, and a Maui event on May 11.

Officials with the MPD say all proceeds from the entry fees and sales of t-shirts will go to the Special Olympics Maui to help the athletes on the islands of Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lanaʻi.

Both events included a run and, potluck, and a softball game between the participants of the respective events against their Special Olympics Unified Softball teams.

According to information published by the Special Olympics Hawaiʻi, the torch run was named after a fallen Honolulu police officer, Troy Louis Barboza, who was killed in October 1987 at the age of 24.

The organization’s website notes that as a recruit, Barboza participated in the very first law enforcement sponsored torch run in Hawaiʻi for Special Olympics; and later served as a volunteer coach for the organization.