Hi Everyone,
I'd like to share my story with you and ask for your help.
As you are probably aware, I have had a difficult time socializing since my spinal cord injury. I've spent much of my time at home thinking about what my body is no longer able to do and fighting against it. I've spent years in denial, years in self-imposed isolation. And I allowed it to go on for too long.
I am learning to accept my body for what it is. My legs are weak. My balance is off. Sometimes I walk as if I've had a few cocktails. I can never tell for certain where my feet are and how they are positioned. I fall down alot, as many of you can testify to. Acceptance is great, but I still needed help with getting out of the house, out of my comfort zone. I had been looking for ways to challenge myself and move forward with my disability when I found Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports. I saw online that they help people with disabilities get active & into sports and have equipment a person can try out. So I called. A few days after my call, they introduced me to handcycling. I went on a test drive and I loved it! I cannot express how free and capable it made me feel.
You may have heard by now that I am going to be riding in the upcoming El Tour de Tucson on Team SAAS (Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports), sponsored by Ascension Wheelchair Lifts. I'm very excited and have been busy training. And now, I'd like to ask for your help. Please donate whatever you can afford, $10, $20, $100, or more if you're able, to cover the cost of racing fees for our team to enter El Tour de Tucson, and for SAAS to continue their work in our community. Please help me show them how apreciated they are. Your donation will make it possible for other people who have disabilities to feel the way I did that day I was introduced to handcycling, and that would be amazing.
I'd like to add that its not just handcycling (and trikes) that SAAS (Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports) offers. They are involved in other sports as well. You may have heard of the Arizona Storms, which is an adaptive basketball team that is sponsored by SAAS, who won the 2021 National Championship in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association games. SAAS takes in donations for walkers, wheelchairs, power chairs, scooters, sports chairs, handcycles, etc,. They supply mobility and adaptive sports equipment (and training when needed), to people in need, where ever that need may be. Again, this equipment, and the maintenance it needs, comes through donations. Please consider donating to this very worthy organization.
Thank you,
Faith Capone
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Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports (SAAS) is partnering with the University of Arizona Adaptive Athletics (UAAA) and Ascension Wheelchair Lifts to support cyclists with disabilities to ride in the 2021 El Tour de Tucson. You can help raise funds for SAAS while supporting handcyclists and recumbent trikers with disabilities. SAAS is a nonprofit 501c3 that serves Southern Arizona communities through the provision and promotion of fitness, recreation, and competitive sports opportunities for people with disabilities. UAAA is the largest collegiate adaptive sports program in the U.S.
Ascension Wheelchair Lifts is a Tucson, Arizona based division of AGM Container Controls Inc., providing access worldwide and support locally.
People with disabilities often need specialized bikes to get on the road. SAAS provides adaptive equipment, tires, tubes, and coaching to help people with disabilities overcome barriers to participation. Join the SAAS-Ascension team today! Register to ride in El Tour de Tucson 2021, and please consider an additional contribution of $500, $250, $125 or $50 to help support our adaptive cyclists.