Juan Martin Botero, Partners for Youth with Disabilities mentor and Cambridge resident, will once again ride for PYD in the up-coming Rodman Ride for Kids on September 24, 2011. Botero will race a 25-mile cycling course for the third year in a row, benefitting PYD, a Boston-based non-profit agency with a reputation for inclusive service to youth with and without disabilities.
Riding with Juan, will be William Connors of Lynnfield, MA, a Partners for Youth with Disabilities Board member, who is a scientist, triathlete and father of toddler twins.
In 2010, Botero finished the 25 mile Rodman Ride course in 3:20, twice as fast as his personal goal. He was diagnosed with Ataxia over a decade ago, and five years ago began using a wheelchair for greater mobility. The neurological dysfunction brought on by Ataxia affects gross motor coordination, so Botero uses adaptive equipment such as his recumbent bike, the Greenspeed Tadpole, for cycling training and racing, as well as his daily commute. Such equipment enables him to continue following his passions for the outdoors and travel, which culminated recently in his climb to Mt. Kilimanjaro’s summit and the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Botero wants to encourage young people facing challenges: “For this reason I believe in Partners for Youth with Disabilities, and I became a mentor: because I hope I can share with them my strengths and my stories, and I can show them that we can all climb Kilimanjaro in our own terms.” He has served as a mentor through the Mentor Match program at Partners for Youth with Disabilities since 2009.
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Partners’ opportunity to participate in the Rodman Ride comes thanks to Mass Mentoring Partnership, the state’s umbrella organization for youth mentorship. The non-competitive ride helps to provide critical funding for the programs of PYD, which include one-on-one mentorship, theatre access and entrepreneurial skills immersion classes. All are designed to help youth with disabilities to achieve their full potential.
If you would like to make a donation to support Juan and Bill’s ride and their charity of choice, Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD), you can go to the following website www.rodmanrideforkids.org and enter “Juan Botero” or “William Connors” under Sponsor Participant. If you would like more information on PYD, please go to www.pyd.org.
