The guest speaker at the Feb 14 Rotary Luncheon at Purkey's Pink Apple was Kevin Kitchnefsky, who spoke about the realities and challenges to daily living experienced by those with spinal cord injuries. He became paralyzed from the chest down in a work accident in 1996 that broke several vertebrae and damaged his spinal cord. Four years later, he set up the Kevin Kitchnefsky Foundation for Spinal Cord Research to raise money for research into cures and development of neuro-electronic/mechanical devices to help those with spinal cord injuries meet the incredible challenges to daily living.
Kevin showed a heart wrenching video of the amazing work being done at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, to which they donate 70-80% of the money they raise. 20-30% of the Foundation's money is used in NEPA to provide financial support to individuals who have a spinal cord injury or to organizations that help these individuals.
His Foundation holds 2 major annual Fundraisers: a summer golf tournament and a HarvestFest in Oct. They are currently looking for business/corporate sponsors for this year's golf tournament (http://kitchnefskyfoundation.org/).
Kevin does physical therapy every day. He has family and a professional aide to help him meet many of the challenges of daily living, but he does have his bad days. He gets through the bad days by realizing there are people worse off than him. He is determined to get out of his wheelchair one day.
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Kevin Kitchnefsky