CHARLOTTE — A local nonprofit is in need of the public’s help.
Speed For Need said on Twitter that their travel trailer and five racing chairs, or ‘chariots, were confirmed to have been stolen on Thursday. Kevin Young, co-founder, and executive director posted a video on the nonprofit’s page asking for help and for people to be on the lookout for the racing chairs on the side of the road around Cotswold and Oakhurst.
“Obviously it would mean the world to us to get our equipment back. And soon we have races coming up in two weeks,” Young said.
The organization’s mission is to increase awareness and inclusion for people with special needs by participating in fitness events and with support from the men of F3 Nation Members of the group push ‘Track Commanders’ (riders with special needs) in those customized racing chairs, allowing them to participate in different physical events from 5Ks to marathons.
“I think the most difficult thing was to go to the race afterward and tell them we wouldn’t be able to get 4 rides, which had just had surgery for sarcoma. Another little boy who had been wheelchair-bound who was looking forward to riding and two other sarcoma fighters who had ridden with us before,” Young told Channel 9.
Volunteers have given rides to everyone from WW2 veterans to cancer survivors; anyone with a special need competes in the events for free.
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Young was the person who discovered the 6 x 12 trailer was missing from the Cotswold storage facility on Silabert Road. Without the chairs, the nonprofit was unable to push its five riders in Saturday’s Sarcoma Stomp 5K.
The stolen chariots are made by Hoyt Running Chairs and are very expensive. “You can’t just go to Walmart and buy one of these,” Young said.
In addition to the price, staff shortages have created a backlog of racing chairs that need to be made. Young says if they don’t find the chairs soon, they will be forced to cancel most of the 2023 season.
“I think the most difficult thing was to go to the race afterward and tell them we wouldn’t be able to get 4 rides, which had just had surgery for sarcoma. Another little boy who had been wheelchair-bound who was looking forward to riding and two other sarcoma fighters who had ridden with us before,” Young told Channel 9.
The organization is asking anyone who knows the whereabouts of the trailer to call the police.
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