Carvel Foundation Awards United Spinal Association Grant for Kids Adaptive Sports Clinics
Jackson Heights, NY–– For the second consecutive year, United Spinal Association has been awarded a Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation grant to support its Sports and Recreation Department’s Adaptive Sports Clinics for Kids with Disabilities. The grant will be used to implement and coordinate nine Kids Adaptive Sport Clinics in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut for youth with disabilities under the age of 18, and to fund some associated equipment costs.
“The Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation has graciously provided much needed support to help United Spinal expand its children’s adaptive sports clinics throughout the tri-state region,” said Paul Tobin, United Spinal’s President and CEO. “With Carvel’s assistance, we will introduce wheelchair basketball, softball, tennis, sled hockey and handcycling to 400 youngsters who might not otherwise have had an opportunity to participate. These youngsters will, in turn, gain the ancillary benefits of self-esteem, confidence and friendships that participating in sports can provide.”
United Spinal Association, a national disability rights organization, has hosted sports clinics for more than a decade and believes that the physical and emotional health of our nation’s 6 million children with disabilities is at risk because of insufficient opportunities to exercise and take part in competitive sports. Adaptive sports clinics provide these children much needed catalysts for accomplishing important goals such as confidence building, the development of social skills, interaction with positive role models, and understanding the importance of teamwork.
United Spinal’s adaptive sports clinics are held at public schools and other locations where experienced wheelchair athletes demonstrate how wheelchair sports are played. These clinics are carried out through partnerships with the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Adaptive Physical Education; Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, NJ; Robert Wood Johnson in Edison, NJ; Blythedale Hospital for Children in Valhalla, NY; Yale Hospital in Yale New Haven Medical Center in New Haven, CT; and Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, PA.
About Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation
Named after the legendary ice cream franchiser, Tom Carvel, the mission of the Farmington, Connecticut-based Foundation is to award general operating grants, project/program grants, grants-in-aid and matching gifts in the area of children, youth and health.
About United Spinal Association
United Spinal Association is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization created in 1946 to provide expertise, create access to resources and strengthen hope, thereby enabling people with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D) to fulfill their potential as active members of their communities. Guided by the belief that the benefits of athletic competition are no different for athletes with disabilities than for those without disabilities, United Spinal sponsors a wide variety of wheelchair recreational and adaptive sports programs. Membership is free and open to all individuals with disabilities of the spinal cord. For more information, please visit www.unitedspinal.org or call 800-404-2898.