The Youth Wheelchair Recreation Program

The Youth Wheelchair Recreation Program is a sports and recreation program for children with disabilities that is sponsored by Access to Independence, Inc. The purpose of the program is to help young people develop self-confidence and independence, which serve to enhance their abilities to be strong, productive, healthy participants in their community.

The program offers two types of recreational activities to school-aged children who use wheelchairs:

Winners On Wheels: This program is a scouting-type group designed specifically for children ages 5 to 15 that use wheelchairs. Children earn badges, attend community events and do volunteer work. The activities are designed to encourage self-esteem, fun, teamwork, parental freedom, achievement, education and independence. This group meets every other Saturday morning for 2 hours.

Wheelchair Athletics: This program is actually a sports league adapted for children who use wheelchairs. Wheelchair Athletics offers a wide array of sports in which to participate, including ice hockey, soccer, karate, bowling and slalom.

Dollars received from The Kids Fund were used to purchase uniforms for over 20 youth participants within these programs.