Everyone’s a winner
Senior Games reflected ‘One Albuquerque’ spirit
People often ask us, what is the meaning of “One Albuquerque,” Is it a T-shirt design? A slogan?
“One Albuquerque” is a call to action to our community, asking everyone to come together to address our challenges and bring our city’s potential to life. During the National Senior Games, our city did just that, demonstrating how we can each step up when it really matters.
The Games wrapped up just over a week ago, where we welcomed a recordbreaking 14,000 athletes and approximately 20,000 visitors to our city. The event was a huge success thanks to the hundreds of City of Albuquerque employees, community partners, sponsors, and over 5,000 volunteers who donated their time and talents.
For many of our city employees, this has been something they have been working on for nearly two years. Our team secured dozens of venues, hundreds of thousands of dollars in sponsorships, and recruited thousands of volunteers. We deployed nearly one-third of our city departments to organize the Games. We also had a lot of help from the community. Our partners at Visit Albuquerque and SMG worked around the clock to make sure that the 11-day event would be a success.
What we didn’t know two years ago when we began planning for the Games was that we would be hosting the largest National Senior Games in the organization’s history. Shattering the participation record also meant that we needed more help to welcome our visitors. The community answered the call in a big way. Over 5,000 volunteers gave their time to help keep score, greet visitors, register athletes, provide water, and more. There was no hesitation from folks about jumping into action to make sure that the Games were successful.
That spirit of coming together for a common goal is not something that surprised us. We know that our city’s greatest strength is the people who live here — Burqueños from all walks of life who love our home and want to share it with others. We are so grateful to each and every person who played a role in welcoming our visitors and showcasing all of the things that make our city special.
We had the honor of meeting some of the competitors throughout the Games who shared their experiences with us. We heard time and time again that they felt like they were being welcomed into someone’s home. That they felt a warmth and a sense of place that seemed unique to Albuquerque.
We know that as a city we face great challenges, but we are hopeful that you will continue to stand with us to address these head on. We have many volunteer opportunities that you can sign up for any time of year to help make our city a better place. Imagine if all 5,000 volunteers from the Games signed up for a volunteer opportunity to help out at the City of Albuquerque. In the coming months, we will be highlighting ways in which we can make more strides with your help. Visit www. onealbuquerque.com to learn about all the ways, big and small, you can play a part in helping our city reach toward our potential.
Thank you Albuquerque for showing our guests true hospitality and thank you for coming together as One Albuquerque to make the National Senior Games an incredible success.