SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Sorenson Legacy
Foundation today announced that it is donating $250,000 to sponsor
the opening ceremonies of the 2007 Winter Deaflympics. The Games
are expected to draw 400 deaf athletes from 20+ countries and more
than 6,000 fans to Salt Lake and Park City, Feb. 1-10, 2007. The donation
is the largest cash gift the international sports competition has received.

"We are elated by this very generous donation from the Sorenson
Legacy Foundation," said Dwight Benedict, chair of the 2007 Winter
Deaflympics Organizing Committee. "There is a great deal of excitement
in the deaf community about coming to Utah to compete at some of the
world's most challenging winter sports venues. This Sorenson gift is a
big step towards accomplishing our goals for 2007."

The Deaflympics are sanctioned by the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) as the quadrennial competition for deaf athletes, and
by hosting the Games, Salt Lake City becomes the first city in the
world to have hosted the Olympic, Paralympic, and Deaflympic Winter
Games. Rules and procedures in the Deaflympics are similar to those in
Olympic competitions except flashing lights and hand signals or flags
are used instead of starting guns or whistles.

"We're proud to take part in making the 2007 Winter Deaflympics
successful," said James Lee Sorenson, a member of the board of
directors of the Sorenson Legacy Foundation. "These games are very
important to the deaf community and this is a wonderful opportunity
for Utahns to further the Olympic ideals of promoting international
friendship and cooperation through athletic competition." Sorenson, a
nationally recognized advocate for the deaf community, and Dr. I. King
Jordan, president of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., are
co-chairs of the 2007 Deaflympic Winter Games Honorary Advisory Board.
Other major sponsors of the 2007 Deaflympics to date are Sorenson
Communications, Communications Service for the Deaf (CSD), Utah Office
of Tourism, George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation and
DeafNation.

The 16th Deaflympic Winter Games will include five individual and
team events: alpine skiing, snowboarding, Nordic skiing, ice hockey
and curling. Some of the venues will be the same as those used for
Utah's 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Snowboarding and alpine skiing will
take place at Park City Mountain Resort and Nordic skiing will be at
Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.

About Sorenson Legacy Foundation

The Sorenson Legacy Foundation is a non-profit corporation
established by the James LeVoy Sorenson family for the exclusive
purpose of promoting charitable, religious, educational, literary, and
scientific endeavors. The Foundation is qualified under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

About the Deaflympics

The Deaflympics, which is under the patronage of the International
Olympic Committee, began in Paris in 1924 and is the second-oldest
multisport and cultural event in the world. The 16th Deaflympic Winter
Games will be held in Utah Feb. 1-10, 2007.

Copyright Business Wire 2006

Deaf Olympics, The

Deaf Olympics, The

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