I'm raising $1000 for GLASA by November 1st, 2015. Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association is an organization that promotes and supports the optimal development and well being of youth and adults who have a primary physical or visual impairment through the provision of inclusive recreational, fitness and competitive sports activities and to offer opportunities for empowerment through education, leadership and training in collaboration with community-based organizations. 

GLASA relies solely on volunteers, fundraising and private donations to continue their programs. 
I chose to raise money for GLASA because my sister-in-law, Carrie Groth, is paralyzed from the waist down. Carrie was in a car accident when she was 15 years old that left her restricted to a wheelchair.

At 17 Carrie began playing wheelchair basketball. Through wheelchair basketball she was able to meet kids and teens that had been restricted to a wheelchair their entire lives. To many of these kids being in a wheelchair was just part of who they were and they thought nothing of it. As for Carrie, being restricted to a wheelchair was very new and so foreign to her everyday life. Playing basketball and interacting with kids that viewed their disabilities as nothing more than routine had a HUGE impact on Carrie accepting and owning her disability. She was involved in camps, tournaments and played on a junior team in Michigan that won the National Championship her senior year of high school! Carrie continued to play wheelchair basketball and went on to red-shirt for the University of Illinois's Women's Wheelchair Basketball team her freshman year of college. She ended up leaving in order to attend Martin Luther College and obtain a teaching degree.

Carrie is now 30 and lives in Cincinnati with my brother, Alex. Carrie can school Alex in wheelchair basketball any day of the week, but this doesn't make her love him any less :) Initially when they moved to Ohio, it was few and far between that she would see someone in a wheelchair, but through a wheelchair basketball league she was able to connect with a group of people her age who are also restricted to wheelchairs. She plays basketball regularly with this group and it's been a great way for Carrie to meet other people just like her, make friends, and stay in shape!

"There is a really special connection with other people in wheelchairs. It's like finding someone who totally understands who you are without telling them anything about yourself." -Carrie Groth

Carrie is truly such an amazing person and she is so special to me and countless others! It's so important for organizations like GLASA to exist in order to help people like Carrie in so many different ways that we may not even realize! Please help me raise money for GLASA in order for them to continue their extraordinary efforts!