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6TH ANNUAL VT WIFFLE® BALL TOURNAMENT RAISES RECORD $146,521 FOR SPINAL CORD INJURY SURVIVORS
Tally Nearly Doubles Previous 5-Year Total
JERICHO, VT – The 6th Annual VT Wiffle® Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation, held August 10-12, 2007, shattered event and Travis Roy Foundation records, bringing in more than $146,000. The funds nearly doubled the total amount raised by the event, which had raised $148,000 in the first five years of its existence. All money raised goes to the Travis Roy Foundation, which will distribute the funds as individual grants to spinal cord injury survivors in financial need and to research towards an eventual cure for spinal cord paralysis.Vermont residents with spinal cord injuries are encouraged to apply for a Travis Roy Foundation grant. Applicants must have suffered paralysis due to spinal cord injury and demonstrate financial need. Applicants apply for specific items or adapted equipment that allow paralyzed individuals greater freedom to live their lives. These include, but are not limited to, vehicle modifications (i.e. hand controls, lifts), wheelchairs, voice-activated computers, ramps, shower chairs, and other adaptive equipment. For information and a grant application, visit the Travis Roy Foundation web site at www.travisroyfoundation.org 2007 EVENT MAKES LASTING IMPACT: Twenty-four teams from across New England and New York and even one from Indiana participated in the three-day event, sporting such names as Hotdam, Banana Hammocks, Hockey Monkeys, Joe Momma, S. VT Wifflenuts, Turfmonsters, and The Curse Lifted. The 2007 event marked the official unveiling of Little Wrigley, which joined Little Fenway in hosting the event. Event founder Pat O’Connor built the replicas of Major League Baseball’s famed parks in the backyard of his Jericho, VT. Inspired after reading Travis Roy’s autobiography Eleven Seconds, O’Connor launched the VT Wiffle® Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation in 2002. Raising just over $4,000 in it inaugural event in 2002, the event has become the most successful annual event that supports the Foundation and has now raised $295,055 to support spinal cord injury research. “I remember after the first tournament Pat O’Connor saying ‘we only raised $4,000’ and telling him what an impact that $4,000 would have in the life of one person with a spinal cord injury,” Travis Roy Foundation founder Travis Roy said. “I was absolutely stunned when they announced the total this year – it brought tears to my eyes. Here we are just five years later and from this year’s tournament alone, we will be able to help 20 to 30 people. That’s amazing.” Individual grants average between $4,000 and $7,500. “It is absolutely incredible what this group of people has put together,” Roy continued. “I have been to the swankiest of fund-raisers over the years, but nothing compares to a few hours…or days…in the O’Connor’s back yard and the VT Wiffle® Ball Tournament. I am just so humbled by everything they have done for the Travis Roy Foundation.” FIERCE COMPETITION ON AND OFF THE FIELD: In addition fierce competition on the field, teams compete to raise the most in pledges. Three teams brought in more than $20,000 each in pledges this year: The Boston (MA) Terriers with $30,000, the Boston (MA) Beef with $22,000 and Comets Express (Chelmsford, MA) with $20,000. All three teams shattered the previous team-high of $12,990 set by the Comets Express last year. Travis Begoyne of the Beef took home the individual award for pledges earned. On the field, the hometown The Curse Lifted (Essex, VT) took home the trophy, defeating the Comets Express 7-3 in the final game. “Little Fenway is the Field of Dreams for those of us who don't have the luxury of cornfields and ghosts of ex-ballplayers in our back yard,” said Mario Fontana, captain of Hotdam (Essex, VT) who have played in the tournament every year. “To get to play there for a weekend, see old friends that we've made over the years and help Travis Roy, one of the most genuine human beings alive, seems way too good to be true. It's basically like three straight days of Christmas and in the end you're sad it has passed and you spend the following summer anticipating it once again.” LOCAL AND CELEBRITY SUPPORT: Celebrities joining the VT Wiffle® Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation this year included Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos great Bill “The Spaceman” Lee, Red Sox ace Bill Monbouquette, Red Sox scout Galen Carr, ESPN anchor John Buccigross, CHAMP 101.3 FM voice Steve "Corm" Cormier, as well as Jet Blue President/CEO David Barger. Lee made making his fourth appearance at the event, while Monbouquette and Buccigross made their second. Also making an appearance was Vermont Lake Monsters mascot, Champ. TRAVIS ROY FOUNDATION: The Travis Roy Foundation (www.travisroyfoundation.org) distributes grants to paraplegics and quadriplegics in financial need to enable them to purchase items and technology necessary to live more independent lives. Examples of eligible items include upgrade/maintenance of wheelchairs, vehicle modifications (i.e., hand controls and lifts), home modifications including ramp and elevator installation, and adaptive equipment. The Foundation also supports research into an eventual cure for spinal cord paralysis and supports the “First Five Project”, an innovative high intensity, focused exercise program for motivated spinal cord injured adolescents and adults with quadriplegia. The Travis Roy Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent as allowed by law. TRAVIS ROY: On October 20, 1995, only eleven seconds into the first shift of his college hockey career at Boston University, Travis Roy’s dream was cut cruelly short when he shattered his fourth cervical vertebra, severely damaging his spinal cord. Travis Roy is now a quadriplegic, with no feeling below his shoulders and no movement in his legs or left arm. With limited control of only his right bicep, Roy is able to conduct simple yet key tasks such as operating the joystick of his wheelchair. He has faced his disability with the same sense of optimism and determination that distinguished his hockey career. A graduate of Boston University with a degree in public relations, Roy is a popular motivational speaker and is actively involved with the activities of the Travis Roy Foundation. In 1998, he published a book, Eleven Seconds, based on his life. In 2004, he made his debut as a television college hockey analyst with WMTW-TV8 in Portland, ME, and in 2005, he worked as a color analyst during ESPN's national coverage of the 2005 NCAA D-I college hockey playoffs. Travis Roy is a Vermont summer resident. -30-
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