LINCOLN, NH – August 5, 2013 – New England Disabled Sports, located at Loon Mountain Resort, is proud to announce that it has received a $5,424.00 Quality of Life grant from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The award was one of 74 grants totaling over $500,000 awarded by the Reeve Foundation to nonprofit organizations nationwide that provide more opportunities, access, and daily quality of life for individuals living with paralysis, their families, and caregivers. Created by the late Dana Reeve, the program has awarded 2,205 grants totaling nearly $17 million since 1999.

New England Disabled Sports will use the grant for the purchase of adaptive equipment to be utilized in its adaptive water skiing program. This equipment will be used by individuals living with spinal cord injuries who participate in the program. The equipment purchased via the Reeve Foundation Grant will provide opportunities for individuals who would otherwise be excluded from this sport. This program is conducted at Squam Lake in Holderness, NH in collaboration with Riveredge Marina.

New England Disabled Sports Board President Mike Drake was elated to receive this award.

“The funds received through the generosity of the Reeve Foundation will help our program to ensure that everyone, regardless of disability, has access to our water skiing program,” Drake said. “On behalf of our students, we would like to express our deepest thanks to the Reeve Foundation for this most generous award. It will make a positive difference in people’s lives and create a brighter outlook for their future.”

“It is the Reeve Foundation’s esteemed pleasure to award Quality of Life grants that will help the paralysis community enhance their freedom and independence,” said Niketa Sheth, Senior Vice President of Quality of Life of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. “We are thrilled to be able to align with organizations that believe in our mission and the ability for those living with paralysis to achieve fulfillment.”

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Quality of Life grants program was conceived by the late Dana Reeve to address the myriad needs of children and adults with paralysis and other mobility impairments and their families. Grants support critical life-enhancing and life-changing initiatives that improve physical and emotional health and increase independence. Funded projects offer a diversity of services and approaches: improving access; providing education and job training; sponsoring organized sporting activities; and much more. Quality of Life grants are funded through cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Award #U59DD000838).

About the Reeve Foundation

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy. We meet all 20 of the Better Business Bureau’s standards for charity accountability and hold the BBB’s Charity Seal. The Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) is a program of the Reeve Foundation, and is funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Award No. U59DD000838. For more information, please visit our website at www.ChristopherReeve.org or call 800-539-7309.