Athletes Helping Athletes; Help Give a Child the Gift of Independence

Toward the beginning of this year I shared about an amazing organization, Athletes Helping Athletes, that together with Roadrunner Sports not only gifted Madi and Ramya hand cycles, but also asked if the girls would like to be their 2016 Featured Heroes. Of course said "yes" because we wanted to do anything we could to help give back to their wonderful organization. They spoiled us rotten and the kids had so much fun (you can read that story here)! 

 The time has officially come, and the campaign is officially live! We are so excited to share!! You may have seen a catalogue come in the mail with photos of our girls, as well as a snippet of our story. This is the first time AHA has done a three page feature, but they wanted to make sure to tell our family's story. They also made sure to include Conner and Deena, which meant so much to them.

Athletes Helping Athletes (AHA) has been granting children with disabilities adaptive bikes since 2000 and to date has awarded 1,078 grants! They have changed so many lives and have blessed so many children with the gift of independence; the chance to just be a kid! 

This year AHA has a big, important goal, to raise enough money to purchase 100 children bikes, and we want to help them meet it and change more lives.  They have a special promotion running through July 3rd, 2016 with Roadrunner Sports. If you make ANY size donation, in-store or online, you will receive a coupon for $20 off your next purchase of $75 or more. It's a win-win!! Adaptive bikes can cost up to $4,500 EACH, which is why this fundraiser is so important! 

Roadrunner sports (the company that supports AHA) has a huge selection of shoes to get you up and active. I was given a gift card to their store and had the privilege of being fitted for custom inserts. I was also able to pick out a new pair of shoes to use when I work out. I am prone to shin splints and foot pain and, before purchasing inserts and shoes from their store, have never had a pair of shoes that I felt supported my feet correctly. I am in love with my new gear, though. The difference is seriously AMAZING! My feet have never been happier, which is huge for me! If you love walking or running, or maybe you are like me and you have kiddos you help with lifting and transfers and put extra strain on your feet, head to Roadrunner sports and let them help you find a great fit. While you are there, make sure to donate to AHA so they can grant more special kiddos with adaptive bikes! 

You can find your closest Roadrunner Sports store by clicking here or you can shop online by going to roadrunnersports.com. 

 You can also donate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online by going to the Athlete's Helping Athletes tab on the Roadrunner Sports home page or by clicking here. 

Thank you for supporting AHA and for helping bless our girls with adaptive bikes. They really have been life-changing! Before I go, I want to share the promotional video featuring our girls. Could they be any cuter or more full of joy!?!?!?! They sure love Athletes Helping Athletes! I'll be back to post more about that later :).

If you are interested in applying for an adaptive bike for your child, please click here. AHA grants many different types of bikes depending on what that child's needs are and they are amazing to work with. They truly care about each of the children they help!

Cute New Shoes (AFO Friendly!!)

I have the hardest time finding the girls cute dress shoes that fit.  Madi has very short and "pudgy" feet, while Ramya's feet are thin, but shaped differently, bending and curving just enough to not fit in many pairs of shoes.  When we try to go shoe shopping, we usually have a hard time finding even 1 pair.  Though Ramya doesn't love shoes and doesn't get upset, Madi gets really sad when we can't find shoes for her. 

The girls don't really need them shoes walking, more for just keeping feet covered and cute (and warm in the winter), so I decided to look on Etsy.  I found a cute shop that sells hand-made shoes that are similar to Robeez.  I messaged the shop owner, and it turns out she happily custom makes shoes for kiddos, and can even make them to fit over AFOs!  It is SO hard to find cute shoes that fit over AFOs!  I'm not sure how durable these shoes would be for walking, but they are perfect for us.  Here is a link to the shop-https://www.etsy.com/shop/mudturtlesandmore .

The girls are really excited about their new shoes!

 

Some pretty cool shoes

I just wanted to share the most amazing pair of shoes we found for over Madi's HKFOs.  They are called Skidders, and Madi gets the Mary Jane style.  They are stretchy like sock material, but have a really awesome non-skid bottom.  They are perfect for walking because they don't weight her down, but also give her plenty of traction so she does not slip. They are very stretchy so they go over her HKFO's easily.  The only draw back is they tend to 'stick' a bit on carpet.  Conner has a pair as well, but his are closed at the top (like a sock), not open.  They would also work well, but would make the feet pretty warm, so they would be better in the winter.  I joined their facebook fan page today and found a 20% off code if anyone can use it.  This is copied from their facebook page:

Shop at www.Skidders.com - use facebook discount code SKID20 and receive 20% off your order!


Hope that helps someone out there :).  Here's a picture of Madi wearing a family of dolls in her HKFO's and using her skidders (which are a tad big.... I always forget how tiny her feet are!!):