You Can Help To Support the Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts Foundation by Running in the Falmouth Road Race
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Race begins at 10 a.m.
Course is 7 miles in distance
Begins in Woods Hole, Cape Cod
Runs along the coast to Falmouth
Runners receive free t-shirt
You can run in this lottery-entry only race
to raise money for Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts!
Runners Needed
Each runner must commit to raising $400 for our non-profit program.
Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts is a 501 c3 non-profit organization
The Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts Program gives women with physical disabilities
a forum to promote the achievements as well as the needs of mobility impaired persons.
Unlike traditional pageants, the Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts Program is in no way a beauty contest. It is instead a competition to select the most accomplished and articulate spokesperson for women with disabilities in Massachusetts.
Requests to run MUST BE RECEIVED BY JULY 2, 2010
For more information or to apply, contact Autumn Grant at 774-501-1185 or email: mswheelchairmass06@yahoo.com. Please stop by our website at www.mswheelchairmass.org for more information on our organization.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
I Wanna Walk n Roll All Day!
This month I got to attend one of the biggest events of my reign- the Spina Bifida Association of Massachusetts’s 1st Annual Walk n Roll on May 23, 2010, which was held at Endicott Estates in Dedham which is a really beautiful property. The weather was somewhat gloomy in the morning but in the afternoon the sun came out and it was gorgeous! It served as a great fundraising and awareness event.
Although the kick-off party in March was a small gathering, there were definitely many more people at the actual event. Ellen Heffernan-Dugan was in charge of organizing it, among many others in the Association as well and they all did such a great job. There were over 100 walkers/rollers spread out over 15+ teams, which was really great to see, not to mention that we fundraised over $28,000 through this amazing event which will no doubt be put to good use for future programs and services for people living with Spina Bifida in Massachusetts.
There was a DJ and the kids got to play games like limbo and musical chairs which was fun for them. I didn’t end up making a team after all, but instead I just went to cheer everyone on and meet the families and others with Spina Bifida. I did get to address the crowd at the beginning along with the Association’s President Cara Packard and Ellen Heffernan-Dugan who is the Executive Director of the SBA Mass, telling my life story and getting everyone fired up to have a great walk which was incredible!
While thinking about what I was going to say, I got to reflect on all my accomplishments and challenges over the years that I don’t think about on a daily basis which was really cool because I realized I have accomplished more than I feel like I have most days. I also wrote a story about my life and Ms.Wheelchair Massachusetts in their press release, and was told that I would be appearing in the Dedham News Transcript the next day, which was really exciting again being able to share my story. Also I got to get my picture taken with some of the teams and families and meet them. They were all impressed by my speech and my story and how far I have come.
I’m really happy to be so involved with the SBAMass, not only because I have Spina Bifida but because of the difference that I’m making for people with SB, and expanding my leadership skills while meeting some really great people in the process. I realize now that I’m not as alone as I think I am most days and that there are people out there who understand what life with a disability is really like.
Being Ms.Wheelchair Massachusetts 2010 has really given me the opportunity to get involved with and help out so many different people; I’m really enjoying every minute of it and really looking forward to meeting everyone at Nationals! :) (74 days left!)
Santara
Although the kick-off party in March was a small gathering, there were definitely many more people at the actual event. Ellen Heffernan-Dugan was in charge of organizing it, among many others in the Association as well and they all did such a great job. There were over 100 walkers/rollers spread out over 15+ teams, which was really great to see, not to mention that we fundraised over $28,000 through this amazing event which will no doubt be put to good use for future programs and services for people living with Spina Bifida in Massachusetts.
There was a DJ and the kids got to play games like limbo and musical chairs which was fun for them. I didn’t end up making a team after all, but instead I just went to cheer everyone on and meet the families and others with Spina Bifida. I did get to address the crowd at the beginning along with the Association’s President Cara Packard and Ellen Heffernan-Dugan who is the Executive Director of the SBA Mass, telling my life story and getting everyone fired up to have a great walk which was incredible!
While thinking about what I was going to say, I got to reflect on all my accomplishments and challenges over the years that I don’t think about on a daily basis which was really cool because I realized I have accomplished more than I feel like I have most days. I also wrote a story about my life and Ms.Wheelchair Massachusetts in their press release, and was told that I would be appearing in the Dedham News Transcript the next day, which was really exciting again being able to share my story. Also I got to get my picture taken with some of the teams and families and meet them. They were all impressed by my speech and my story and how far I have come.
I’m really happy to be so involved with the SBAMass, not only because I have Spina Bifida but because of the difference that I’m making for people with SB, and expanding my leadership skills while meeting some really great people in the process. I realize now that I’m not as alone as I think I am most days and that there are people out there who understand what life with a disability is really like.
Being Ms.Wheelchair Massachusetts 2010 has really given me the opportunity to get involved with and help out so many different people; I’m really enjoying every minute of it and really looking forward to meeting everyone at Nationals! :) (74 days left!)
Santara
Monday, May 3, 2010
April Update
Hi Everyone, Santara here with another update. April was a pretty laid back month. I did participate in one event along with Autumn called LAUNCH which was held at Bristol Community College in Attleboro, MA. At this event, we had a table to showcase Ms.Wheelchair Massachusetts Foundation with the pamphlets and business cards etc. There were also different workshops to attend all about promoting STEM Literacy and incorporating it into other fields like Early Childhood Education for example. I got to attend two different workshops to learn more about it. The first one was called “STEM Literacy & the Education Model”. It was run by a woman named Joan Ricci, who is the Director of The Literacy Center and also an Early Childhood educator. She talked about the effects of the STEM model between birth to age 5, which was really important to me because I too want to be an Early Childhood teacher. At first she asked us all general questions like: Who has read to a child before? Who has bought a book as a gift for a child/mother? And then she spoke about how those early moments in a child’s life are so crucial to children’s success and the likelihood that they will pursue careers in mathematics or engineering because of our efforts.
The other workshop that I attended was called “Like Herding Fish-Managing the Startup Process” and this one was all about effective business management and leadership. The two people running the workshop talked about all the different tools a person needs to start your own business, the importance of finding the right people to help you succeed in your business, making tough decisions-like when you should hire or fire a person and not worrying so much about other people’s feelings and what others think, but instead doing what is right for your company.
Well, that’s pretty much it for this month. Next month I am looking forward to two great events: a forum for the candidates for Governor at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown on May 18th and Spina Bifida Association’s First Annual Walk n Roll on May 23rd at Endicott Estates in Dedham. There is still time to sign up for the Walk n Roll if you want to sign up as a team or individual walker. It is going to be a great event both for fundraising and raising awareness of Spina Bifida and other disability issues. If you are interested in building a team or being an individual walker, please go to walknrollsbamass.org to sign up. Also if anyone wants to build a team with me feel free to let me know. If you cannot make it out to Dedham that day for the event but would still like to participate, there is an option to sign up as a virtual walker as well.
Thanks!
Santara
The other workshop that I attended was called “Like Herding Fish-Managing the Startup Process” and this one was all about effective business management and leadership. The two people running the workshop talked about all the different tools a person needs to start your own business, the importance of finding the right people to help you succeed in your business, making tough decisions-like when you should hire or fire a person and not worrying so much about other people’s feelings and what others think, but instead doing what is right for your company.
Well, that’s pretty much it for this month. Next month I am looking forward to two great events: a forum for the candidates for Governor at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown on May 18th and Spina Bifida Association’s First Annual Walk n Roll on May 23rd at Endicott Estates in Dedham. There is still time to sign up for the Walk n Roll if you want to sign up as a team or individual walker. It is going to be a great event both for fundraising and raising awareness of Spina Bifida and other disability issues. If you are interested in building a team or being an individual walker, please go to walknrollsbamass.org to sign up. Also if anyone wants to build a team with me feel free to let me know. If you cannot make it out to Dedham that day for the event but would still like to participate, there is an option to sign up as a virtual walker as well.
Thanks!
Santara
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