Special Olympics Athlete Designs Website to Promote Inclusion and Community
5.19.26
By: Mia Sansone, SOCT Intern
Robin Batchelder has launched a new website dedicated to sharing stories about the invaluable people, places and things in our lives, or as she calls them, “missing pieces.” bethemissingpiece14.com officially launched in October 2025.
The website features individuals talking about their “missing pieces.” A missing piece can be anything — a person, place, pet, thing or even an event — that has influenced your life. The concept is that all those things had to fall into place to turn you into the person you are now. The number 14 is included in the website name for a multitude of reasons. Not only was the number 14 Batchelder’s jersey number when she played sports during her youth, but in numerology, 14 also represents freedom, positive change and self-determination, which resonated with Batchelder’s mission when creating this website.
The main purpose of bethemissingpiece14.com is to inspire kindness and connection. Batchelder did not want to sell a product; she simply wanted to create a space for individuals to be inspired.
“Our world right now is so heavy, people are struggling,” said Batchelder. “I’ve never found any websites that are just inspirational, and that’s all it is.”
Batchelder taught herself how to build the website, something she had no experience with prior to this project. Every day, for two years, she’d come home from working at LEGO©, hop on YouTube to learn how to make her website come to life. The entire project was also kept a secret from friends and family until it was completed. Batchelder went through countless hours of editing to cover every aspect of the website to make the vision come to life.
“If you want to experience every single emotion possible, build a website,” said Batchelder.
Batchelder was diagnosed with autism at 38 years old. After her diagnosis, she was encouraged to become involved in an activity that would give her a community. Her answer? Join Special Olympics Connecticut (SOCT). Now, Batchelder is giving back by donating all proceeds from her website to the SOCT.
Batchelder is a current SOCT athlete, participating in basketball, swimming and softball. She is an accomplished member of the organization and was inducted into the Special Olympics Hall of Fame in 2025 and was the recipient of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver award in 2025, the highest honor that a Special Olympics athlete may receive. She’s also a Global Messenger, or an official ambassador for the SOCT. Batchelder says she’s found lots of her missing pieces through SOCT; she even lists Special Olympics athletes as one of her missing pieces on her website.
“I think you’re lucky in life if you find an organization, like I have, that accepts you wholeheartedly and is with you through the good and bad times,” Batchelder said. “Special Olympics has done that for me.”
Batchelder was once told that if you can connect with every single person in your audience, then you’ve accomplished something. This advice came from one of her missing pieces, Tara Baker, one of Batchelder’s closest friends.
“Everybody has that person or that thing or that place that they couldn’t imagine their life without,” Batchelder said.
Even though bethemissingpiece14.com is in the early stages right now, Batchelder looks ahead to evolving into a nonprofit. The end goal is to inspire kindness and create a larger community centered around the concept of appreciating your missing pieces.
“Be the missing piece,” said Batchelder. “Be that strength and be that courage and that shoulder to cry on.”
