Spotlight: GROW HUB

Growing Real Opportunities to Work--Harvest of Urban Business (GROW HUB) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2016 with the purpose of providing employment options to veterans and people with developmental disabilities. GROW HUB is based on Farm to School to Work Hub, a program for Alachua County high school students of varying abilities up to age 22. Entrepreneurs who rent plots of land from GROW HUB to grow food hire program participants, who don't have as many job opportunities as the non-disabled. The organization is seeking volunteers and donations of money and gardening tools. In a partnership with another nonprofit called Working Food, GROW HUB is hosting a craft sale and fundraiser on its property in Gainesville, Florida, from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 4. For more information, go to https://www.grow-hub.org/.

A GROW HUB banner

(image via wcjb.com)

Spotlight: Hailey Dawson

Hailey Dawson, an eight-year-old from Henderson, Nevada, was born with Poland syndrome, which left her with three missing fingers on her right hand and a missing right pectoral (chest) muscle. She has a 3-D printed right hand that is held together and controlled with fishing line. The engineering team at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, created the hand, which has to be refitted every few months due to Dawson's growth. To learn more about Poland syndrome, go to
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/poland-syndrome.

We are more than halfway through Major League Baseball (MLB) season. Dawson's goal since 2015 is to become the first person to throw the first pitch at all 30 MLB stadiums. She got closer to achieving her goal last Saturday when she threw the first pitch at an Arizona Diamondbacks game at Chase Field in Phoenix, her 22nd stadium. Dawson plans to complete her pitches with the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, September 16. For more details on this story, go to https://abcnews.go.com/Health/girl-hand-closing-goal-throwing-pitch-30-mlb/story?id=56572271.

Hailey Dawson after a pitch

(image via Wikimedia Commons)

Spotlight: Ryan Reed

In 2011, NASCAR driver Ryan Reed was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D), which almost stopped him from pursuing a racing career. He worked with an endocrinologist to figure out how to manage his diabetes during races. Reed, age 24, won the 2015 Alert Today Florida 300 and the 2017 PowerShares QQQ 300, both at Daytona International Speedway. He drives the No. 16 Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang, which contains a drink system and a blood glucose monitor on the dashboard. (A1C is a measure of the amount of hemoglobin with glucose in one's blood.) Reed and his family founded Ryan's Mission, a nonprofit based in Bakersfield, California, that raises awareness about T1D. He recently started the clothing line STGR with fellow NASCAR driver Ryan Truex. Reed came in eighth place last Friday night at Kentucky Speedway. For more information, go to ryanreedracing.com.

Ryan Reed's car

(image via Wikipedia)

Spotlight: Not Impossible

Founded ten years ago, Not Impossible Labs LLC is a company that creates technologies such as prosthetic arms and the Eyewriter (a hands-free art creation device) for people with physical disabilities in different parts of the world. Not Impossible also sponsors programs that serve the homeless and hungry and those without access to vaccines. The company tries to encourage action by sharing the stories of the individuals who are helped. The Not Impossible Awards are for individuals and organizations that apply technology for the betterment of others. For his efforts, Not Impossible founder Mick Ebeling has received several awards and was featured on CNN. Ebeling, who hosts a podcast, wrote a book titled Not Impossible: The Art and Joy of Doing What Couldn't Be Done. For more information, go to notimpossible.com.

Mick Ebeling, Not Impossible founder

(image via youtube.com)

Book Review: "I'll Push You"

Yesterday, my parents and I completed our semiannual 1,200-mile road trip to Buffalo, so this is a good time to tell you about a book titled I'll Push You: A Journey of 500 Miles, Two Best Friends, and One Wheelchair. Published by Tyndale Momentum last year, this inspirational memoir chronicles best friends Patrick Gray and Justin Skeesuck's pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago, which is Spanish for "Way of St. James." A wheelchair user, Skeesuck needs help with activities of daily living because he has multifocal acquired motor axonopathy (MAMA), a rare neuromuscular disease with symptoms that are similar to those of ALS. To learn more about MAMA and to read an excerpt from I'll Push You, go to https://strongly.mda.org/multifocal-acquired-motor-axonopathy/.

Skeesuck was inspired to go on the Camino after watching a TV program about it. He asked Gray if he'd accompany him on this trip, and Gray responded with the following words: "I'll push you." After flying from Idaho, they started the Camino in St. Jean Pied de Port, France, in early June 2014. Gray and Skeesuck made several new friends who helped them along the way to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Also a documentary based on the book, I'll Push You encourages readers to go outside their comfort zones and pursue their dreams despite their obstacles. It also displays true friendship, which is reinforced by the photo gallery inside the book. I recommend I'll Push You for readers with and without disabilities. More details on Gray and Skeesuck's journey can be found at https://www.illpushyou.com/.

(image via illpushyou.com)