Our KBF community is celebrating our newest Active Fund cohort! Congratulations to our Spring 2024 grant recipients. This cycle our grant committee is beyond thrilled to award over 140 equipment grants and over a dozen Try It First Scholarships. This cycle’s equipment costs were over $1.2 million and we were able to give out just over $420,000 to help our community purchase new equipment!

Our team wants to give a warm welcome to the 115 first-time applications! To the 78 folks who applied for their first-ever adaptive sports equipment: congratulations on this monumental step in your active journey! Welcome to #TeamKBF

Some fun grants we had the opportunity to award this cycle include a pair of FreeWheels for a husband and wife duo to complete The Camino de Santiago in Spain!

“We have heard many people talk about how life-changing their Camino experience was, and with the use of the FreeWheel, we hope to join the ranks of those who have completed this bucket-list adventure,” the couple describes.

Pickleball and tennis are growing in popularity among our community! “As a student I am very busy with my course load and pickleball has been my outlet to destress and maintain a healthy lifestyle,” describes one grantee. “As an athlete,” they go on to explain, “it has always been crucial to have sports in my life because it creates balance and has instilled numerous life lessons. Prior to being awarded this grant, I had been borrowing a friend’s sports chair. While I was appreciative of having a chair to use, it wasn’t fit to me, and I could not compete to the best of my abilities. With this new chair I hope to maximize every aspect of it so that I can reach my full potential.”

The KBF is also thrilled to see our larger KBF community continue to grow and connect within our adaptive sports communities throughout the country. This cycle, the majority of our grant recipients were connected with the Active Fund via sports teams, word of mouth, past grant recipients, adaptive sports organizations, rehab hospitals, and vendors. Through the help of our community continuing to connect and grow, we are thrilled that we get to help more and more people each cycle.

Thank you to our community for giving us the opportunity to empower people with spinal cord injuries to live active and engaged lives. The impact these opportunities provide is best described by our grant recipients themselves:

“At times I feel physically restricted by my injury and want so badly to be able to just go and be free. I believe the new equipment will unshackle some of my paralysis and allow me to chase my outdoor passions.”

“This injury brings a lot of pain that exercising can help me through. Having this piece of equipment not only will help me be more serious about competing, it allows me not to hurt myself in the process. Being active is something I always loved so this will help keep me sane during this journey.”

“This will help me in my upcoming basketball season, an upgrade I have very much needed after having my last sports chair for almost 7 years. Receiving this grant will allow me to perform at the highest level. This is not just important for basketball but for me to maintain my active and exploratory lifestyle that I have cultivated and need!”

Living with an SCI and interested in getting your own adaptive sports equipment? Consider applying for one of our scholarships to try a new sport, test out a piece of equipment, or build skills by attending camps, clinics, or other adaptive sports programs. Once you find the perfect fit, check out our Active Fund guidelines to prepare your paperwork for our Fall 2024 cycle! 

Questions about our grants? Feel free to reach out to us a [email protected]