August 19, 2021 – Committed to fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities, throughout the years, Galaxy Entertainment Group (“GEG”) has made sports accessible to all people by supporting different major sporting events and activities. This year, GEG co-launched a Marathon “Run with a Partner” Training Program with the Macau Special Olympics (“MSO”) for GEG team members and MSO members, during which members from the GEG Runner’s Club were arranged to train with MSO members on a regular basis. The Runner’s Club developed a marathon racing strategy with MSO to help MSO members get better prepared for the annual “Galaxy Entertainment Macao International Marathon”. Besides, GEG also participated in a series of inclusive sports activities such as the “2021 MSO Charity Football Tournament” organized by MSO to promote social inclusion for people with disabilities. 

Title sponsored by GEG for 17 consecutive years, the “Galaxy Entertainment Macao International Marathon” is held in December each year. To support interested MSO members in preparing for this year’s race, the Marathon “Run with a Partner” Training Program was launched this May and will last for 8 months. In the past 2 months, MSO members and members from the GEG Runner’s Club were grouped in pairs based on the physical conditions, needs and progress of individual MSO members, and participated in weekly marathon trainings to grow together. Members of the GEG Runner’s Club designed the marathon racing strategy and practiced different types of workouts with MSO members including interval run, long slow distance and tempo run to improve their speed and endurance. In addition to helping MSO members improve their running, the GEG Runner’s Club hopes that these weekly trainings and extended invitations for other club members to join can help bring GEG team members and MSO members closer together, create long-lasting friendships, and promote social inclusion. 

Via its team member engagement platform – the GEG Staff Social Club, this year, GEG invited its team members to participate in different inclusive sports activities organized by MSO, including inclusive boules, basketball, badminton, table tennis and bowling. Guided by MSO coaches, GEG team members joined MSO members in learning the basics of each sport, and formed teams for the interactive games and friendship matches. In addition to giving participants the opportunity to have fun, the activities also supported people with special educational needs by uncovering their strengths and interests. Apart from joining MSO’s inclusive sports activities, earlier, the GEG Soccer Team also took part in MSO’s “2021 MSO Football Charity Tournament” where they defeated football players from different organizations and won the champion title in the open category. 

Earlier, GEG also supported MSO’s fundraising initiative by supporting MSO’s charity sales at the back-of-house area of Galaxy Macau™ during which MSO sold handicrafts and cookies made by its members that were well received by GEG team members. Mr. Hetzer Siu, Chief Executive Officer of MSO, said, “Over the years, GEG has supported MSO in organizing many different activities that gave our members the chance to play and interact with GEG’s team members, train, share experiences, and establish friendships. This marathon training program reinforces the team spirit and helps our members enhance their self-confidence, feel accepted by society, and develop healthier physical and mental well-being.” 

To promote social inclusion, GEG has been working closely with MSO on supporting and encouraging its team members to participate in MSO’s sports and recreational activities, including the “Galaxy Entertainment Group Special Olympics Table Tennis Competition” of which GEG has been title sponsoring for 10 consecutive years since 2011. Believing that sports has no boundaries, in 2019, GEG invited members from its Dragon Boat Team to join special needs athletes from the MSO Dragon Boat Team in forming a “GEG x MSO Inclusive Dragon Boat Team” for the “2019 Macau Special Olympics Unified Dragon Boat Festival Tournament” against teams from the Greater Bay Area. Moving forward, GEG will continue to uphold this belief by promoting inclusion, supporting local sports development, and helping to build Macau into a healthy and harmonious city.