Sport&Health Clubs, Project VisAbility and Diamond Sponsor Myzone raised over $120,000 in this year’s second annual SWEAT for a VET event, held on Nov. 12, 2011.
SWEAT for a VET is a 3-hour “all cardio” (indoor cycling, rowing, Kranking and whatever) inclusive fitness fundraising event benefiting wounded warriors within the US and individuals with physical challenges outside the US. The event is hosted by Project VisAbility along with Sport&Health Clubs and is held annually on the Saturday of Veteran’s Day weekend along with other SWEAT-a-thon locations linked through live video streaming across the nation and around the world.
The event includes challenged athletes and disabled Veterans that participate through cycling, Kranking® and rowing and “ride” alongside able-bodied individuals. This year thousands of club members participated across the nation and around the world, as they were connected via live video link.
Last year donations from the SWEAT for a VET event helped to purchase Concept2 adaptive rowers, Johnny G Krankcycles® by Matrix and Invacare Top End Handcycles for disabled veterans at Fort Belvoir, Fort Meade and Fort Lewis locations and the National Rehabilitation Hospital and Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC.
“Receiving this hand cycle through the donations from SWEAT for a VET is making a huge difference in my ability to train,” said Carlos Evans, Sport&Health member and a Marine who was deployed in Iraq three times and then in Afghanistan until he was wounded in combat in 2010, resulting in the loss of both legs and his left hand. Currently Evans is part of the Wounded Warrior Battalion East in Walter Reed Medical Center. “When I was first injured, I thought that I would never be independent or able to enjoy any sports. Now all that has changed. When I did the Disney half marathon with a hand cycle, I felt independent and confident that if I could do that I could do anything. I don’t feel my injuries and I don’t see that I am missing one hand and two legs. What I feel is freedom. And that is priceless.”
To see highlights from this year’s event visit the SWEAT for a VET home page at www.SWEATforaVET.org.
