Cindy and Josh Anderson of Great Falls have been named 2022 Family of the Year by Special Olympics Montana. This Distinguished Service Award is for the family that makes unique and lasting contributions to the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities or developmental disabilities.

Josh has been a Special Olympics athlete for 22 years and his mother, Cindy, has been involved as a coach/volunteer for as many years. They stumbled upon Special Olympics while skiing in Whitefish when they witnessed a Special Olympics Winter Games. They found out then what Special Olympics was and joined.

Cindy became involved with Josh and in the beginning volunteered as a coach for his sports including alpine skiing, swimming, bowling, and basketball. Today she does a lot of behind-the-scenes work including helping Josh write and practice his speeches, being his mentor for Athlete Leadership Program, serving on the Charles Russell Area Management team as well as managing the spread of information through the Charles Russell and Purple Hornets Team Facebook pages. Cindy is also involved in skiing as a coach for Josh’s team, the Great Falls Purple Hornets.

Over the years, Josh has represented Special Olympics Montana domestically and internationally as an athlete and spokesperson. His travels with Special Olympics has included Panama, Vermont, Washington DC, and Los Angeles to name a few.

From 2003-2008, Josh served as an athlete representative on the Special Olympics Board of Directors. He was named to the board once again in 2023 and currently serves with two other athlete representatives.