DARE TO DREAM BIG!: "More than a Kid in a Wheelchair!”

Imagine This: You’re born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Types 2 and 3 which confine you to a wheelchair, so does this limit your activities, your dreams, and your aspirations?  Apparently not in the case of this Tampa Bay teen!

 Who: You’re Ben Carpenter, a 17-year-old high school honor student at King High School

 What: The first Tampa Bay Lightning Community Hero Award

 Where: The Tampa Bay Lightning Home Opener in Tampa, Florida

 When: October 17, 2011

 This is an inspiring story about giving back to your community.

 You’re an honor student, the captain of the nationally-ranked power soccer team, “Tampa Thunder” and a volunteer for several community organizations.

 You have a passion for reading and you see a need for books, so you start a nonprofit called “Ben’s Mends” in 2007. Your nonprofit takes used and abused books, repairs them, then donates them to other non-profits that help women, children, and the elderly. So far you’ve donated more than 4200 books.

 You have also worked extensively with Junior Achievement of West Central Florida, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Shriners.

 The Tampa Bay Lightning Ice Hockey Team officials select you to be the first recipient of their “Community Hero Award” because of your leadership and your ability to inspire others. You then donate your check for $50,000.00 to Junior Achievement who nominated you for the award.

 Thank you, Ben, for being an inspiration for all of us!

 For More about Ben Carpenter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUDiMR7rusM

 Something to Think about: Why do you think Ben spends so much of his time helping others?

                                    “The time is always right to do what is right.”

                                                     Martin Luther King, Jr.

Willoughby and I hope you enjoyed this week’s true story and will be back next week for another story to inspire you to DARE TO DREAM BIG!

 Reminder: To be eligible for the weekly drawing for an autographed copy of one of my books (your choice of book), please leave a comment here and on my website at http://www.kidscandoit.com/blog.

THIS WEEK’S WINNER IS Olyn Warfield.

CONGRATULATIONS, Olyn!