Endless Highway donates $5,000 to Rochester Accessible Adventures and the Rochester Wheels to support the revival of the adult wheelchair basketball program and the start up of a youth team.
RAA Press Release
ROCHESTER ACCESSIBLE ADVENTURES (RAA) is proud to announce it has received funding from the Endless Highway Foundation to promote inclusion in sports for youth with disabilities. Media are invited to attend as RAA and the Rochester Wheels wheelchair basketball team are presented with a $5000 check from Endless Highway Foundation on Wednesday, July 25, 2018 at Frederick Douglass R-Center at 999 South Avenue at 6:30PM.
RAA is creating a Revolution in Inclusion, rolling out a unique model of Community Health Inclusion (CHI) initiatives to ensure individuals with disabilities have accessible and inclusive active recreation opportunities. Partnering with area municipalities such as The City of Rochester R-Centers, Victor Parks and Recreation, and Hamlin Recreation, Rochester Accessible Adventures is creating inclusion in sports and recreation so that peers with and without disabilities can recreate together.
“We are thrilled with this gift from Endless Highway,” says Anita O’Brien, Executive Director of Rochester Accessible Adventures. “We are grateful that Rob has recognized our efforts to create sustainable systems which will ensure youth with disabilities are able to access sports and recreation along with their peers without disabilities – and continue these lifelong passions through adulthood.”
“This gift,” says Xavier Major, coach of the Rochester Wheels wheelchair basketball team, “will allow us to have a variety of coaches and assistant coaches for our adult team and utilize the adult team to develop a Youth Wheelchair Basketball team which we have not had in almost 10 years.”
“Participation in Sports and Recreation provides access to important developmental milestones,” says Rob Tortorella, whose friends started the Foundation to honor him. “We must ensure youth with disabilities are included in our community opportunities. RAA and the Rochester Wheels understand the importance of creating sustainable and inclusive opportunities so that our youth gain self-confidence and team building skills, have opportunities for setting and achieving their personal goals, and so that families with a youth with a disability can know their child has the choice to participate.”
Don’t miss the impact of this partnership told through interviews in the video above.