Thank You!
Words cannot describe how grateful we are to everyone who came out to support us on June 15th. It was great to have both old and new friends in attendance.
We meant what we said that night. We cannot do this without you! Please continue to share the vision with your friends and family, like our Facebook page and sign up for our mailing list!
Each and every one of you plays an important role in helping spread the word! If you believe in what we are doing please don't be shy, share it with your friends!! Together we can build a park, where everyBODY can play!
We meant what we said that night. We cannot do this without you! Please continue to share the vision with your friends and family, like our Facebook page and sign up for our mailing list!
Each and every one of you plays an important role in helping spread the word! If you believe in what we are doing please don't be shy, share it with your friends!! Together we can build a park, where everyBODY can play!
VSA Tour - Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens
Last Tuesday, my daughter Leah and I were honored to tour the Cummer Museum during their Very Special Arts Festival. This festival allows children to participate in the arts regardless of their handicap. Our amazing tour guide, Hope McMath, reiterated to us that it wasn't the outcome of the art project that was important, it was the process. For some of these children, simply touching clay, or having it pressed against their face was far more important than what the finished piece of art looked like.
Hope's words echo my own passion for the beach project. As I watched the children from Mount Herman Exceptional Student Center enjoying themselves, I was moved to tears. It wasn't that they could do everything that some of the less profoundly handicapped children could do, but regardless of their limitation, they were finding joy in the process! As I watched the students I could envision a day when the air was filled with joyful giggles coming from children as warm sand moved over their hands for the very first time, or as they swung on swings that accommodated their wheelchairs, all the while watching the waves crash on the shore.
As you read this it is my prayer that you would know that you don't have to be a millionaire to make a difference. You don't have to travel to far away lands to impact the lives of people, although that too is admirable. A passionate group of average people can effect change... If you doubt it, ask the disciples of Jesus, they were a small and ragged lot. Won't you please join us as we seek to impact our community?
Hope's words echo my own passion for the beach project. As I watched the children from Mount Herman Exceptional Student Center enjoying themselves, I was moved to tears. It wasn't that they could do everything that some of the less profoundly handicapped children could do, but regardless of their limitation, they were finding joy in the process! As I watched the students I could envision a day when the air was filled with joyful giggles coming from children as warm sand moved over their hands for the very first time, or as they swung on swings that accommodated their wheelchairs, all the while watching the waves crash on the shore.
As you read this it is my prayer that you would know that you don't have to be a millionaire to make a difference. You don't have to travel to far away lands to impact the lives of people, although that too is admirable. A passionate group of average people can effect change... If you doubt it, ask the disciples of Jesus, they were a small and ragged lot. Won't you please join us as we seek to impact our community?
Benefit Concert Tickets Now Available!
Please join us at the Murray Hill Theater on June 15, 2013 for our first ever benefit concert featuring Arbor Park and Leah Sykes! Tickets are available on Ticketfly and are $8 in advance and $12 at the door. Proceeds from the show will help us begin the process of making The Strand a reality!
What Drives Us...
In 2007 our family began a journey that would profoundly change all of us forever. It was in that year that my mother in law was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Sally fought bravely for five years while every function that you and I take for granted slowly became impossible for her. My father in law, George, was her champion and her knight in shining armor. He was always right beside her doing for her, what she could not do for herself.
After Sally lost her battle in October of 2012 we spent a great deal of time contemplating what we would do with the lessons that we learned watching Sally fight and watching George care for her. Then, in a serendipitous conversation with Lizzie, a new friend who works tirelessly for the ALS Association, we became aware of a project in Virginia Beach that captured our hearts. Lizzie's cousin also has ALS and his family worked with the local community to build a beach park that was fully accessible by wheelchair. They call their park Grommet Island. It is an amazing place. I would highly recommend you take a moment and check it out online. You will be impressed by what you see.
When we saw what they had done there, it became clear to us that we needed to bring this concept to Jacksonville as well. We knew that Sally would have loved to be able to go to the beach and watch her grandchildren play, or to sit peacefully and watch the sun rise. She would have loved the ability to roll her wheelchair alongside my father in law on a boardwalk just spending time together. These are things that you and I take for granted but these are things that are currently virtually impossible for those in wheelchairs. We believe that should change.
We imagine a place where children in wheelchairs build sandcastles and play right alongside of their able bodied friends. We imagine a place where families can sit under umbrellas and watch the waves roll in. We imagine a place where the community embraces the fact that the beach really is for everyBODY, and then takes the steps to make it so.
Won't you join with us in bringing a beach park to Jacksonville where everyBODY can play?
After Sally lost her battle in October of 2012 we spent a great deal of time contemplating what we would do with the lessons that we learned watching Sally fight and watching George care for her. Then, in a serendipitous conversation with Lizzie, a new friend who works tirelessly for the ALS Association, we became aware of a project in Virginia Beach that captured our hearts. Lizzie's cousin also has ALS and his family worked with the local community to build a beach park that was fully accessible by wheelchair. They call their park Grommet Island. It is an amazing place. I would highly recommend you take a moment and check it out online. You will be impressed by what you see.
When we saw what they had done there, it became clear to us that we needed to bring this concept to Jacksonville as well. We knew that Sally would have loved to be able to go to the beach and watch her grandchildren play, or to sit peacefully and watch the sun rise. She would have loved the ability to roll her wheelchair alongside my father in law on a boardwalk just spending time together. These are things that you and I take for granted but these are things that are currently virtually impossible for those in wheelchairs. We believe that should change.
We imagine a place where children in wheelchairs build sandcastles and play right alongside of their able bodied friends. We imagine a place where families can sit under umbrellas and watch the waves roll in. We imagine a place where the community embraces the fact that the beach really is for everyBODY, and then takes the steps to make it so.
Won't you join with us in bringing a beach park to Jacksonville where everyBODY can play?