Hi, I’m Ali!
This is my fourth year on Team Run 2 Empower—a team built to run a lot of miles and raise a lot of money together. We support one incredible charity: Vermont Adaptive, an organization committed to making sure every BODY can enjoy the outdoors and all the activities it has to offer.
Why is Vermont Adaptive so near and dear to my heart?
The reason is HOPE.
Dr. Amy Faust captures it perfectly:
“Hope isn't a feeling. It's a behavioral process—a habit of mind—born from overcoming adversity... the confidence that we have some influence on our own future. Hope doesn't exist without struggle. And struggle, of course, needs hope to not become suffering. We must lean into both.”
This quotation embodies what Vermont Adaptive has given me.
After being diagnosed with a genetic, progressive blindness disorder in January 2020, I was scared, lost, and at times hopeless. I still have my hard days—days when I wonder what the next 5, 10, or 20 years will look like. But now, I also have hope.
I’ve found hope through Team Run 2 Empower by meeting other visually impaired runners and learning from them what it truly means to live, adapt, and keep moving forward.
I’ve found hope through Vermont Adaptive’s programming, knowing I will always have a place where I can access the outdoors—my happiest place.
I’ve found hope through the Vermont 100, and the way it honors and celebrates adaptive athletes. For one weekend each year, I get to be fully, wholly myself within a community that sees me.
So I’m asking you to consider donating to an organization that gives me—and so many others—a place to be our fabulous selves while getting rad in nature. Consider donating to an organization that uplifts people who are too often marginalized in a world that feels increasingly divided. Consider donating for me, and for the many athletes whose lives are changed by this work.
Thank you for supporting hope.
Thank you!
MORE INFO:
Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that empowers people of all disabilities through inclusive sports and recreational programming regardless of ability to pay. In addition to sports, year round programming options integrate environmental, holistic wellness, and competitive training philosophies for people of all ages with cognitive, developmental, physical and emotional/behavioral disabilities. The organization believes sports and recreation provide a physical, mental and social experience that is immeasurable in promoting self-confidence and independence in an individual.
With nearly 400 active volunteer instructors, plus generous partners and sponsors, and an amazing base of clients and friends, Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports has been at the forefront of sports and recreation for those with disabilities in New England for over 30 years. Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports is committed to empowering individuals with disabilities. We promote independence and further equality through access and instruction to sports and recreational activities.
The VT 100 is one of Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports biggest fund raisers every year. For more information about Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports: www.vermontadaptive.org.