Friday, April 21, 2006

April Events for Access Anything

Access Anything participated in two great events in April; the 20th anniversary open house for the Northeast Rehabilitation Health Network in Salem, NH and the annual Scott Remington Fundraiser for spinal cord research donations to the Christopher Reeve Foundation in Brant Lake, NY. Both events were great networking events for Access Anything and were amazing and inspiring for both of us.

The open house on April 1st was a bi-centennial celebration as well as a showing for iBot. The Northeast Rehabilitation Health Network is the only iBot evaulation and instruction center in the New England area.

If you haven't seen the iBot live or on TV yet, you're in for a dose of modern technology's current advancements. This 21st century machine can climb stairs, roll through mud, stand its rider upright, and balance on two of its six wheels using gyroscopes and computers.

We also made some great connections at this open house with some of our peers in the disability-travel community. Wheelchair Escapes, travel agent and wheelchair-user husband Kristy and Jerry Lacroiz, specialize in wheelchair travel and are members of the SATH organization. Northeast Passage, one of the area's largest adaptive sports and recreation programs was also at the open house. Well known for their unique feature of individual equipment rental, Northeast Passage is one of the largest adaptive programs in the New England area and is a DSUSA affiliate.

In New York the following weekend the Scott Remington Fundraiser topped all previous years with over 300 attendees and over $40,000 in donations for the Christopher Reeve Foundation and spinal cord research. This event truly touches our hearts, as Scott is a distant cousin of Craig's, and has done this wonderful event since his recovery from a severe logging accident in 1998. This year we were lucky enough to present Scott with a special donation from one of our sponsors, the Freedom Tent, a fully independent tent for people in wheelchairs or with mobility disabilities made by Eureka! and Blue Sky Designs. Scott has always been an avid outdoorsman, and has not done much camping since his accident. He has kept up many of his outdoor activities such as snowmobiling and hunting, but plans to start camping again this summer!