Year In Pictures - Rollin' Along

Photo provided courtesy of Paul Oberle.

The smile on both of their faces tells the story.  This photo was taken along a country road in the middle of New Jersey.  The veteran had just received this donated handcycle and was going on his first ride as Jenlene, our Team Hope For The Warriors® Director ran along.  These handcycles can go extremely fast and so this athlete was being kind--going slow enough for someone to run alongside him.  He has now returned with his young family and the handcycle to his upstate New York home where there are many miles of country road for him to reach top speeds. 

I am a firm believer that if everyone exercised, everyone would be happier and the world would be a better place.  I offer their expressions as evidence of this belief.

In 2011, Hope For The Warriors® facilitated the donation of 23 pieces of adaptive equipment to our service members at a cost of more than $65,000.  Donations came from:  Deer Park Lions Club, FDNY VFW,  Ground Zero Independence Ride, Haskell Family of Long Island, Jordan's Initiative, Siller Foundation, Tee It Up For The Troops,  Yorktown Heights Community, Zilinski Memorial Fund and directly from our organization.

Tunnel to Towers and Team Hope For The Warriors®

For ten years now, the Tunnel to Towers Race has been held in New York City at the end of September.  It repeats the steps that firefighter Stephen Siller ran on 9/11. He rushed from the entrance of the Brooklyn Tunnel, on foot and in full gear, to the towers in hopes to join his fellow firefighters.  He made it to the towers and died with so many other heroes that day.

The Siller family has carried on his name and they are without a doubt, an incredible family.  They are generous and energetic--proud of their brother and proud of our service members.  And they really know how to take care of those service members.

Team Hope For The Warriors® joins in this event each year at the start of the race.  Before the race begins, one of our wounded service members is donated a handcycle from the Siller Family.  That handcycle will enable that warrior to embrace their competitive spirit and once again by defined by their accomplishments, not their injuries.

Another major project of The Siller Foundation is building homes for severely wounded service members.  They have plans to build several homes in 2012 for service members who are multiple amputees--most have three or four amputations.  Hope For The Warriors® has partnered with the Siller Foundation to furnish each one of the homes.

I write about this today because a fellow blogger, Roger Stradley, highlighted our organization in his blog yesterday.  To read more about the Siller Foundation and their work, visit his blog.

A Member of our Team at the start of the Tunnel to Towers Race
Photo provided courtesy of Paul Oberle.