The Charlotte Jewish News - August 2013 - Page 11
They TRI-ed ... and Succeeded
On June 2, 175 children arrived
at the Sandra and Leon Levine
Jewish Community Center toting
swimsuits, bikes, and running
shoes to participate in the 2nd An
nual LJCC Kids Triathlon benefit-
ting Pediatric Rehabilitative
Services at the Levine Children’s
Hospital (LCH). Several hours
later, they left with medals hang
ing around their necks and big
smiles on their faces.
Leon Levine spoke to all at
tending and started the event (“Let
the race begin!”), in which nine
children from the Adaptive Sports
and Adventures Program (ASAP)
at LCH participated alongside
able-bodied children, ages five
through 14. Some swam with as
sistance, used hand cycles, or leg
braces, but all participants had a
wonderful time as spectators held
up signs and cheered in encour
agement. The message resonating
throughout the day was that the
children all were participating to
gether to TRI for a Cause.
After a child suffers a signifi
cant injury or illness, he or she
often needs inpatient rehabilita
tion services to regain strength
and functional skills necessary to
return home or to school. LCH
provides the region’s only com
prehensive inpatient rehabilitation
services for children and adoles
cents who have experienced a de
bilitating illness or injury. With a
continuity of care that is unparal
leled, LCH offers high level out
patient services once a patient is
released by offering the opportu
nity to participate in ASAP, which
is a part of Carolina’s Rehabilita
tion. This program, open to any
one in the community, is designed
to challenge youth (and adults)
with physical disabilities to de
velop skills that will lead to and
enhance an active and productive
lifestyle - one without barriers.
Participating in the Kids
Triathlon is a dream come true for
many of the ASAP children. It is
also something relished by the
able-bodied kids. As one parent
said: “My three children, ages 5,
8, and 10, really enjoyed showing
their stuff at the triathlon. Not
only were they able to race and
then play around with all of their
friends, they were able to watch
the children using adaptive de
vices in action and get a better un
derstanding of why the triathlon
exists.”
This year’s event was followed
by festivities including a DJ, face
painting, and bounce houses, as
well as treats donated by Earth-
fare, Healthy Vending and What’s
Water Ice. The families stayed and
mingled with one another while
their children continued their af
ternoon of fun. As another parent
said: “This was [our son’s] second
year participating, and it went
from a great event last year, to an
even better event this year. It was
run really well and felt very
smooth. The kids had a blast, and
enjoyed helping a great cause, too.
It was a wonderful event for our
community, and we look forward
to participating again next year.”
In addition to training for the
event, participants pounded the
pavement to ask friends
and relatives to support
their individual fundrais
ing efforts. The incentive:
a three-night stay with
park-hopper passes at Dis
ney World, courtesy of
Mann Travels and Disney.
Congratulations to Holden
O’Brien who individually
raised more than $2,600
and will soon be traveling
to Florida. The second and
third place fundraisers,
Sam Goldstein and Eli
Lan, will receive gift cards
to Dick’s Sporting Goods.
With the help of indi
vidual fundraisers and
sponsors, including a
$10,000 Challenge Grant
from the Leon Levine
Foundation, the event raised
$39,000 which will go directly to
the LCH inpatient rehabilitation
and ASAP programs. A big thank
you to all the sponsors who made
this possible: The Leon Levine
Foundation, Dale and Larry Pol-
sky, PRECOR, Skechers, Bayada
Home Health Care, McGuire-
Woods LLP, Varji & Varji Salon
and Spa, Mann Travels, Action
Plus Ideas, Binders Art Supplies,
Coca Cola Bottling Company,
Dick’s Sporting Goods, Earthfare,
Inside Out Sports, Promo
Threads, St. John Photography,
TCBY, What’s Water Ice, and
Your Event Source (Y.E.S.).
Save the date for the 3rd
Annual Kids Triathlon: June 1,
2014. «
Having Fun a the LJCC
Triathlon
NC Teens Clean Up After Hurricane Sandy
(Continued from page 3)
do service? Or worse,
what if it just wasn’t
meaningful? On the first
night of the summit, we
invited the Metropolitan
Council on Jewish
Poverty (Met Council) to
speak to us. Four ordi
nary-enough looking
women came to sit on a
panel about the effects of
Hurricane Sandy. These
four women shared their
incredible stories, which
ranged from heartbreak
ing accounts of the destruction
Sandy caused in their lives to in
spiring stories of sacrifice and
volunteerism. They explained to
us the chaos the hurricane sur
vivors endured, how newly home
less or family-less people just
wanted some electricity, a pair of
shoes, a little food.
Seemingly small
things. If sneakers
were big, were so
important to the
people who had lost
just about every
thing, surely, knew
everyone in the
room, a combined
1,080 hours beauti
fication, of building
flood-proof sustain
able gardens, of
making sustainable
greenhouses out of recycled water
bottles was a big thing. We
weren’t doing busy work. It was
not just about looking pretty or
petty convenience. It was about
healing. And so the next day when
my service group went to weed
and mulch a street comer, we did
so enthusiastically because we
weren’t just gardening, we were
healing. ^
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Ben Schulman and Roni
Rose
NC Holocaust Commission Receives
Challenge Grant from Greenspon
Foundation
(Continued from previous page)
of financial support. The addi
tional $20,000, if raised, will en
able the Council to provide more
teacher workshops around the
state and pay the cost of substitute
teachers in the schools, making it
possible for more teachers to at
tend the workshops.
Please consider donating to the
cause of Holocaust education in
North Carolina. Mail your tax-de
ductible donation to the North
Carolina Holocaust Foundation,
5704 Crooked Stick Trail,
Raleigh, NC 27612. The Founda
tion is a non-profit 501c(3) organ
ization. Please visit the Council’s
website, www.ncpublicschools.
org/holocaust_council. (At this
time, donations cannot be made
online.) ^
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