Honorees
Heart of a Champion | April 26, 2025
2025 Heart of a Champion Honorees
Honoree
Sheriff Don Barnes
Orange County Sheriff’s Department
Sheriff Don Barnes began his law enforcement career with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in 1989. In 2018, he was elected the 13th Sheriff-Coroner of Orange County.
Sheriff Barnes leads nearly 4,000 sworn and professional staff working in diverse areas, including patrol operations, criminal and special investigations, and the county’s crime lab, courts, coroner office and five jails. The department provides direct patrol services to more than 783,000 residents within the county’s unincorporated areas and contracts with 13 municipal cities, the county’s three harbors, John Wayne Airport, and the Orange County Transportation Agency.
Sheriff Barnes serves as President of the California State Sheriffs’ Association and as Chair of the association’s Technology Committee. At the national level, he is chair of the Major County Sheriffs of America’s Intelligence Commander Group, which works to ensure open communication amongst local, state and federal law enforcement regarding threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking and cyberattacks.
Within our community, Sheriff Barnes is a long-time supporter and advocate for Special Olympics, having served on the Orange County Resource Leadership Council from 2015-2023. Each year, he inspires more than 100 Sheriff’s employees to volunteer their time to raise awareness and funds for Special Olympics Southern California. He is a champion of acceptance and inclusion who helped to implement the Honorary Recruit program at the Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy. This unique community engagement program provides Special Olympics athletes with an opportunity to experience and learn about the rigorous training Southern California peace officers accomplish to begin their career. It also allows academy recruits to build meaningful relationships with members of the community they will soon serve.
2025 Betty Belden Palmer Athlete of the Year
Alex Martin
Special Olympics Southern California athlete Alex Martin has been active in Special Olympics for more than 11 years. He participates in Basketball, Bocce, Bowling, Floor Ball and Golf.
Since 2014, Alex has provided athlete leadership as a Global Messenger speaking regularly about Special Olympics to numerous corporate and philanthropic groups such Microsoft, Kaiser Permanente, Knights of Columbus, Pimco, Taco Bell, Genesis Bank and Sheppard Mullin. Alex has also enjoyed being the Opening Ceremonies speaker at various spring and fall festival events over the years, and has served as an instructor in the Young Athletes Program as well. .
Alex received the 2023 Richard L. Van Kirk Outstanding Outreach Achievement Award, which is presented annually to the Special Olympics Southern California Global Messenger who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and achievement in advancing the cause of Special Olympics. In 2023, Alex was also recognized as the top fundraiser as the honorary co-pilot for Sheppard Mullin’s “Sheppard Pullin” Special Olympics Plane Pull team in the Long Beach competition in 2023.
Since 2016, Alex has enjoyed working at the Harvest Restaurant at Laguna Beach’s Ranch Resort and also operates a commercial document shredding business.