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Wiffle® Ball Benefit
Vermont Wiffle® Ball Tournament to benefit the Travis Roy Foundation... By: Kevin Greenstein The 3rd annual Vermont WIFFLE® Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation will be held on August 13-15, 2004 and feature twelve teams from across New England and New York. For the first time, games will be played under the lights at Little Fenway Park, and guests will be treated to a concert by the Zambonis, "North America's Favorite All-Hockey Band!" Boston Red Sox great Bill Monbouquette will be a special guest at the event. The ace of Red Sox teams in the early 1960's, Monbouquette won at least 14 games in four straight years, peaking in 1963 with a 20-10 mark. A four-time All-Star, he no-hit the Chicago White Sox on August 1, 1962, defeating Early Wynn 1-0, and had a second no-hit bid foiled by a Zoilo Versalles home run in September 1964. Previous special guests at the Vermont WIFFLE® Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation have included former Boston Red Sox legends Bill "The Spaceman" Lee in 2003 and Bernie Carbo in 2002. Baseball Hall of Fame Director of Research Tim Wiles will also be a special guest and will entertain the crowd with "Casey at Bat." Event founder Pat O'Connor built a small replica of famed Fenway Park in Jericho, VT for WIFFLE® ball - complete with the Green Monster - and it is perhaps the most unique setting for a Travis Roy Foundation event! After reading Eleven Seconds by Travis Roy, the organizers of this annual Vermont charity event launched the tournament in 2002. The Story Behind The Foundation While growing up in Yarmouth, Maine, with strong odds working against him, Travis Roy always dreamed of playing Division I college hockey. At every level, each time the competition was raised a notch, Travis not only met the challenge but exceeded it. On October 20, 1995, only eleven seconds into the first shift of his college hockey career, Travis' 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 his right bicep, Travis is able to conduct simple yet key tasks such as operating the joystick of his wheelchair. Travis has faced his disability with the same sense of optimism and determination that distinguished his hockey career. A May 2000 graduate of Boston University with a degree in public relations, he is a popular motivational speaker and is actively involved with the 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. A strong and articulate spokesman for spinal cord injury survivors, Travis asked that a charitable fund be created in his name, focusing on helping others and on promoting research. Dedicated to Spinal Cord Injury Survivors and Research The Travis Roy Foundation was established in 1997 to help spinal cord injury survivors and to fund research into a cure. Inspired by Travis' own story, the lifeblood of the Travis Roy Foundation has been the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations across North America. This generosity has made an immediate impact on the lives of many individuals. Since 1997 the Travis Roy Foundation has distributed more than $1,000,000 in individual grants and to research projects and rehabilitation institutions across North America. The individual grant funds have been used to modify vans and to purchase wheelchairs, computers, ramps, shower chairs, and other adaptive equipment to help quadriplegics and paraplegics live their lives. The Foundation is also actively involved in efforts to build a state of the art spinal cord center that would treat patients from across the Northeast United States. The Travis Roy Foundation is uniquely positioned to touch individual lives with its focus on providing adaptive equipment and sponsoring research. None of the six trustees or Travis Roy receives any compensation or awards from the Foundation. Thus, over 99% of every dollar donated goes to the Travis Roy Foundation's charitable purpose. In the US alone, there are approximately 250,000 people currently living with a spinal cord injury and 13,000 new injuries each year. The Travis Roy Foundation could help many more deserving applicants if funds were available. To further its charitable purpose, the Travis Roy Foundation welcomes individual, corporate and foundation support. Every gift helps, and contributions by check, gifts of securities and other property may be made to:
Travis Roy Foundation 111 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02199-7613 (617) 239-0100
Appeared in the Inside Hockey - July 2004
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