Mebane police, fire teams face off in charity dodgeball match for Special Olympics

Special Olympics athletes and programs in Alamance County were the real focus when Mebane police officers and firefighters faced off in a charity dodgeball match at Eastern Alamance High School, 4040 Mebane Rogers Road, in Mebane.

The event put two of the city’s most visible public-safety agencies on opposite sides of the gym floor, but both departments were playing for the same cause. The Mebane Police Department says it is a proud sponsor of Special Olympics, and city officials describe the Torch Run and related efforts as part of the department’s community-oriented policing approach.

That support matters in a county where the Special Olympics North Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run is more than a symbolic relay. Special Olympics North Carolina says the Torch Run is its largest awareness campaign and that nearly 2,000 law enforcement personnel take part each year across North Carolina. The campaign now reaches beyond the run itself and includes fundraising events such as the Plane Pull, Polar Plunge, Tip-A-Cop and Truck Convoy.

In Alamance County, the 2026 Torch Run relay is scheduled to culminate Friday, May 29, at the Special Olympics North Carolina Summer Games Opening Ceremony in Raleigh, where the Circle of Honor and lighting of the cauldron will mark the end of the county leg. That local route includes runners from the Burlington Police Department and Burlington Fire Department, tying Mebane’s fundraiser to a wider countywide push.

The matchup also spotlighted two long-standing Mebane departments with deep local reach. The Mebane Fire Department was founded in 1922 and now operates out of three stations, covering a 35-square-mile district with a population of nearly 25,000. The Mebane Police Department says it has 46 sworn positions and four civilian positions, with units that include patrol, investigations, vice and narcotics, special operations, K-9, school resource officers and animal control.

Mebane city government also points to partnerships between its recreation and parks department and community organizations for seasonal family-friendly events, another sign that the dodgeball event fit into a broader pattern of civic cooperation. For Special Olympics athletes and families in Alamance County, that cooperation translates into more awareness, more support and a stronger local base behind the games they train for year-round.