Stewart’s Shops/Dake Family Foundation Make Major Donation to STRIDE Adaptive Sports
After a very challenging year that some would like to forget, Capital Region kids with disabilities have something new to cheer about. According to STRIDE Adaptive Sports , a West Sand Lake-based nonprofit that provides sport and recreation opportunities for children with disabilities – Stewart’s Shops/Dake Family Foundation has made a major financial donation that will help keep STRIDE’s programs running in 2021.
“Nonprofits everywhere are struggling to survive these unprecedented times,” explains Joe Russo, STRIDE’s Chief Operating Officer. “Then, we ran into more bad luck with the 10 year old van we use for transporting equipment, athletes, staff and guests to and from STRIDE events, programs, and competitions. The van had an unexpected series of breakdowns with expensive repairs/replacements needed. When STRIDE realized we can no longer maintain our van affordably, it became daunting to have the major expense of a replacement looming ahead.”
STRIDE Founder/CEO, Mary Ellen Whitney, explains that as she searched frantically for funding, Stewart’s Shops/Dake Family Foundation came up as a natural fit. “Stewart’s is known to be philanthropic and very generous within the local community, supporting kids’ recreation. They include STRIDE every year in the Holiday Match campaign; they donate breakfast sandwiches for our veterans event, and they even donate ice cream to support our various fundraisers. We knew it would be asking a lot, but we also knew the foundation might be able to help since they support the adaptive lifestyle for children with disabilities. To our delight, they agreed to buy a new lightly-used van so we can continue our programs and operations this year. I would like to personally thank Amy Potter of Stewart’s and Susan Dake of the Dake Family Foundation for stepping up and coming to our rescue!”
“During these difficult times, nonprofits need our help more than ever with increased strains on staffing, resources, and budgets during the pandemic. Without a van for STRIDE Adaptive Sports, it would be near impossible for them to function, providing essential recreation for individuals with disabilities”, said Amy Potter, Stewart’s Corporate Contributions Director.
STRIDE Adaptive Sports plans on conducting 18 different sports and recreation programs for individuals with disabilities this year. More information on the programs and how to participate can be obtained by visiting https://www.stride.org or contacting Megan Evans, Program Director, [email protected], 518-598-1279