Three successful days of events June 29-July 1 around Park County led to another successful year for the Celebs for a Cause charity — raising more than $25,000 for Special Olympics of Wyoming and Park County Special Olympics.

The third edition of the fundraiser brought in a variety of athletes and celebrities from around the country, who competed in a golf tournament, attended the Nite Rodeo in Cody and a fundraiser dinner, in addition to holding a variety of camps.

“It was hard to get them (celebrities) here in the first place with canceled flights everywhere,” event organizer Ryan Brown said. “Rod Woodson was one whose flight got canceled in Denver — he rented a car and drove through the night to get here.”

The weekend was capped off with a set of basketball games at Northwest College’s Cabre Gym, where Special Olympics athletes from Cody and Worland, alongside the celebrities, got to showcase their talents.

In the Special Olympics game, Team Cody used a strong first half to pull away behind strong 3-point shooting en route to a 24-10 victory on the night.

“Their game was a blast to watch,” Brown said. “Even after the game they had fun interacting with the celebrities.”

In the celebrity game, Team Wyoming used a strong first half to hold a 41-32 halftime lead.

During some halftime entertainment, Wyoming’s Luke Martinez beat out Chris Cooley in a 3-point contest before the two teams went out for the second half.

Team Celebrity came out firing in the second half and took a 44-41 lead just four minutes into the half, before Wyoming put on the gas to take the 77-67 victory over the celebrities.

Bryce Francois ended up being named the MVP of the game after finishing with 18 points for Team Wyoming.

“It was awesome,” Brown said. “I wish more people would have come out but I know there was so much going on with the rodeo. It was great, there was a lot of support.”

Brown said that he would like to thank the sponsors of the weekend, with final tallies of the weekend expected to be between $25,000 and $30,000.

He said that the funds will be able to help buy new jerseys and equipment, and help with travel for Special Olympics.

“It’s awesome, it feels good to help out,” Brown said. “That’s what this is all about is giving back.”

Looking forward to next year, Brown said that they are planning to do two separate events around the state.

The first one is planned for the end of May in Cheyenne with all of that money going towards Alzheimer’s of Wyoming.

The event in Park County is being planned to be pushed back into the middle of August and will not feature a sporting event. Instead, it will feature a beer fest in Powell.

He said those funds will go to Crisis Intervention Services alongside a veteran’s fund that has not yet been determined.

“We want to make it bigger and bigger each year and help as many causes as we can,” Brown said.