About the Center for Disability Rights Wheel-A-Thon

The Center for Disability Rights (CDR) got the wheels turning on the annual Wheel-A-Thon fundraising event in 2006 to promote increase awareness of community accessibility and inclusion of folks with disabilities.

Hundreds of citizens and people from local business and civic associations take part in CDR’s Wheel-A-Thon every year to help raise thousands of dollars CDR uses to fund some of its programs.

CDR's Wheel-A-Thon 2008 raised $17,000! On average, teams raised $642 each -- that's almost double from 2007 when the average was $346! The top team fundraiser was the the Four Wheel Loggers (see photo above right) who raised $2,290. The money raised went to support:

Wheel-A-Thon 2009 is not a race, but a challenge to members of the community to navigate around obstacles and barriers faced by over 240,000 Connecticut people with disabilities every day. Participants navigate their way through an easy course past Savin Rock on West Haven Beach, across Ocean Avenue, and back to the Savin Rock Conference Center, where the event is held every year. If a more challenging course is preferred, participants may choose a hilly detour off the main route.

Teams of two or more people can alternate their time in the wheel chair but are not supposed to help each other through the course by pushing. For a person with disabilities to have someone to push their wheelchair everywhere they go, is equivalent to an able bodied person having someone to drive them around everywhere they go.

The short course takes about 45 minutes to complete. Participants receive a t-shirt and other items that sponsors and local businesses kindly donate, recognition in various media, an increased awareness of the difficulties faced every day by wheelchair-bound individuals in our community, and an overall feeling of having done something good for the community.

Cold bottled water and traffic officers make the route a safe one. A lunch and awards ceremony take place after the event to recognize key individuals, sponsors, teams who raised the most money, and of course, the teams who finished the course in “record” time.

The Center for Disability Rights was founded in 1988 and is at the forefront of promoting empowerment and self-reliance for persons with disabilities in Connecticut. CDR’s programs and activities result in greater self-sufficiency for individuals and offer savings to the state and the taxpayer by eliminating the need for many expensive services. Our funding comes primarily from foundations and individuals throughout the state and community participation in events like the Wheel-A-Thon are becoming increasingly important in these economically distressing times.

There are many ways you can help: become a corporate sponsor: form a team to participate in Wheel-A-Thon 2009 or make an in-kind donation. Please visit the "forms" page for more information regarding Business sponsorship opportunities, and how to form a Wheel-A-Thon 2009 Team.

Download a pdf of the Wheel-A-Thon 2009 brochure here.

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to welcoming you as a sponsor!