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Clay Aiken Grant Brings Wheelchair Swing to Center | 5/1/2004, back
Her vision become reality when 12-year-old Brooke Arnold and her physical therapist, Ashley Knecht, wrote a grant to the Bubel/Aiken Foundation for a wheelchair accessible swing for the Center. They were one of 25 recipients across the country of the Clay Aiken ABLE to SERVE grants offered to encourage children with disabilities to play and carry out projects for the National and Global Youth Service Day on April 16-18. The $1,000 grant helped pay for the new swing which has ramps that allow people who use wheelchairs to swing without having to be taken out of their chairs. Brooke got the idea from a summer camp she attended where there was a similar swing, but she could not find any like it in Baton Rouge. Ashley Knecht is thrilled with the new swing, and says that it promotes the independence of children who use wheelchairs. Bubel/Aiken Foundation founders Clay Aiken, 25-year-old recording artist and 2003 American Idol runner-up, and Diane Bubel, mother of an autistic child, hope the foundation will create awareness about the diversity of individuals with disabilities and the possibilities inclusion can bring. According to Boundless Playgrounds, a national, non-profit organization that specializes in accessible playgrounds, five million children in the United States are unable to enjoy playgrounds because of a disability.
Together, Ashley and Brooke have helped to foster inclusion, independence, and fun for others who use wheelchairs.
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