A Handcycle For Corey
September 25, 2020Join our “Team Corey” fundraiser
We have Great NEWS!
At the end of the June 2020 grant cycle the GoHawkeye Foundation awarded $16,770 grants to 13 different applicants. This was one of the largest grant distributions in both money and number of individuals assisted in the history of the foundation!
THE CHALLENGE
The needs are many, greatly exceeding the resources on hand. While we are pleased that we were able to help so many applicants there were ten individuals we were unable to assist.
THE OPPORTUNITY
There is one individual, in particular, that GoHawkeye Foundation feels compelled to help; The inspiring Corey Lovato. Corey is raising money for a Lasher all terrain handcycle($16,500). He has saved $5,000 toward this goal and his first piece of adaptive equipment. We need $11,500 to help make this happen. Please join GoHawkeye’s “Team Corey” and help us by making a donation.
ABOUT COREY
Corey, 33 years old, has a spinal cord injury at his C6 vertebrae. He has full movement of his biceps, triceps, upper chest, upper back, and shoulders, but very limited partial movement of his hands. His injury is sensory incomplete and motor complete, i.e., he has retained some feeling below the level of injury but does not have any movement.
“Through the struggle, the goal fades in importance and pales in comparison to the finished product: a perpetual human work in progress trained to fight the battles and win the wars all stages of life will hurl at him.”
-Corey Lovato
Why Corey?
What caught the GoHawkeye Foundation attention was the fact that despite difficult challenges, Corey has put himself through law school and obtained his J.D. in Law. Additionally, he is not pursuing avenues of law that could be more enriching to himself, but rather is working at the Arizona Center for Disability Law advocating for people with disabilities. He is working to help people similar to him who suffer from discrimination and get them first class treatment unlike the second-class treatment he experienced while in law school. He continues to fight this disability stigma as well as the prejudice attached to his athleticism as a quadriplegic.
“Athleticism is a mental outlook, a temperament forged through diligent practice replicated daily for years, aimed to chip away at one eventual goal vaguely related to the initial dream of exalted achievement,” Corey Lovato said.
“Athleticism is much deeper than its physical manifestation, and once it is established it becomes entrenched within the person of the athlete” said Corey who was an athlete before his skiing injury and is still determined to maintain his athleticism. “It can be beaten down and cowed into hiding but never extinguished. Given the right nourishment it will always flare up and fan out, spreading again throughout the athlete and driving his desire to work, struggle, and achieve.”
The Lasher-ATH is a off road handcycle that will help Corey “get a little wilderness back” as well as demonstrate to others with disabilities what is possible after a life changing injury.
” I want to tell people, to show people, that an athlete cannot be broken,” Disability Law advocate Corey Lovato said. “Most of all, I want a little more of me back. I want to liberate another piece of that Colorado kid, and I want to let him roam the wild wheelchair be damned. I am an athlete, I am a quadriplegic and I have work to do.”
Now that’s inspiring! Join Team Corey!
Our hope in the future is to pursue additional fundraising efforts like this for some of our non-awarded applicants. We want to focus on who we feel especially worthy of help beyond our normal fundraising efforts. We know that times are challenging for many GoHawkeye Foundation supporters but the challenges for those less fortunate than us don’t stop either. We appreciate any contribution you can make.
