Brothers of Visually Impaired Athletes Help Raise over $150,000 for Wounded Vets

Contributed by Karen Jordan

William Jordan of Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains NY and Jonathon Sarubbi of Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn NY have a lot in common. For starters, they are both 16, New York high school seniors, competitive lacrosse players, and each have a sister at The University of Notre Dame.
Yet the most unique shared trait requires a closer look.
Closer looks are something neither take for granted. William’s sister Alexandra a.k.a Lexie and Jon’s sister Caitlin were both born with genetic conditions that resulted in legal blindness at birth.
But the story continues to track as both Lexie and Caitlin are competitive skiers: Caitlin, a US Paralympic skier at the Vancouver games and Lexie, a US Paralympic hopeful currently on the Disabled Sport USA (DSUSA) Alpine E Team.
It’s likely the shared experience and years being around many types of disabled athletes that has instilled a sense of chipping in and of giving back.
On Sept. 22, both boys organized a volunteer squad of classmates to support DSUSA’s Warfighter Sports Charity Challenge golf outing at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor.
Jordan and Sarubbi met with school guidance counselors to explain the event to secure youth volunteers, all of whom received needed community service hours. The event was a huge success with more than 200 participants, including 15 wounded veterans, numerous corporate sponsors and volunteers working together to raise over $150,000.
The funds will directly benefit American heroes in need of adaptive sports rehabilitation.
Warfighter Sports, a program of Disabled Sports USA, offers sports rehabilitation for wounded warriors with permanent physical disabilities who are living in military hospitals and in communities across the U.S. in partnership with a nationwide network of over 120 community-based chapters. Since 1967, DSUSA has proudly served wounded warriors, including those injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Since 2003, more than 10,000 of the most severely wounded, including those with amputations, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, visual impairments, and severe nerve and muscle damage have been served, along with their families.
For more info visit: www.warfightersports.org
Kirk Bauer, DSUSA’s executive director and a disabled Vietnam veteran, was very impressed with the strong showing of support for the wounded vets organized by Jordan and Sarubbi.
“When we put together a big event, we rely on volunteers to make everything run smoothly," he said. "It’s great to see guys like William and Jonathon stepping up to help. Both these boys have been in the front row watching their sisters compete and both know what disabled athletes are capable of doing. I’m really impressed as they took leadership roles and did a great job. All the kids should be proud of themselves to support some of our finest warriors.”
While William and Jonathon have much in common they split on one import issue: Sarubbi is an accomplished snowboarder and Jordan is a competitive skier. Jordan is a trained guide and races with his sister Lexie. He is currently named to DSUSA’s 2016 Alpine E team and remains a US Paralympic hopeful.

PHOTOS:

High school seniors William Jordan and Jonathon Sarubbi with US Marine Cpl Nick Thom and Kirk Bauer, executive director of DSUSA, at the Sept. 22 Warfighter Sports Charity Challenge golf outing at Trump National in Briarcliff Manor. Both teens have legally blind sisters, who ski competitively, and organized their classmates to volunteer at the outing, which raised $150,000 to provide adaptive sports rehabilitation to wounded warriors.

High school seniors William Jordan and Jonathon Sarubbi with wounded veteran U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Justin Constantine, who took part in the Sept. 22 Warfighter Sports Charity Challenge golf outing at Trump National in Briarcliff Manor. Both teens have legally blind sisters who ski competitively and organized their classmates to volunteer at the outing, which raised $150,000 to provide adaptive sports rehabilitation to wounded warriors.

Photo credit: Karen Jordan