Скачать или смотреть 2023 Celebration of Heart Evening Highlights

With stunning views of the Bay Bridge, the Financial District, and Coit Tower, the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) raised over $675,000 at its sixth annual Celebration of Heart event on Friday, May 12 at Pier 27 in downtown San Francisco. The heart-filled evening united the Bay Area community to celebrate local CAF athletes. More than 375 Bay Area attendees across sports, technology, business, and philanthropy embraced the night's theme “Be Moved” to empower more individuals with physical challenges.

Host Hally Leadbetter led the inspirational program showing how CAF is impacting lives in the Bay Area and beyond to fund adaptive sports equipment, host sports camps and clinics, empower injured military veterans and create an inclusive community. With interactive stations and adaptive equipment, guests enjoyed firsthand experiences with adaptive sports from the lens of a CAF athlete. Handcycling, wheelchair basketball, a putting green set up for the visually impaired, and an equipment and prosthetics station created an eye-opening and transformative opportunity for everyone.

Over 50 local athletes and their families including CAF grant recipients Sydney Barta (19) and Bruce Mansy (13) who took the stage as featured athletes. Stanford freshman, Sydney Barta member of USA Paralympic Track & Field team dreams of one day being an orthopedic surgeon. At just 6 years old, metal scaffolding crashed onto Sydney's left foot leading to amputation. Sydney moved the crowd with her speech about how CAF helps with inclusion and community. “The communities built through sport are so important and we can't let people with disabilities be excluded from those. It is too important to the development of identity, sense of self and confidence.”

Joining Sydney in the spotlight was 13-year-old, Bruce Mansy, who was involved in a car accident with his family that left him paralyzed from the waist down at the age of 7. Bruce and his family continue to view life through a positive lens – focusing on what Bruce can do versus some of the challenges he’s faced. Samuel, his father, explained how access to sport and community has helped heal his son and his family.

Event co-chair and CAF board member, Alan Shanken, is a congenital below-knee amputee and knows first-hand how beneficial and empowering sports can be. “Our vision for the Bay Area is to raise the bar on impacting lives. Tonight, we’re celebrating the benefits of sports and to ensure that anyone who wants to play, is not held back by a lack of funding or knowledge,” Shanken shared. “CAF successfully bridges the gap between healthcare and a person's full physical potential.”