DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — The McCartney Foundation, a Doylestown-based nonprofit dedicated to serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community throughout the Delaware Valley, will host its inaugural 5K Run and 1-Mile Walk at Peace Valley Park on Saturday, October 17, beginning at 9 a.m.
The event will raise awareness and support for the foundation's ongoing efforts to serve the Deaf community in four key areas:
Founded in 2014 in honor of the late Dr. Brian McCartney, the foundation carries forward the legacy of a remarkable Deaf educator and administrator whose contributions had a lasting impact on countless young people.
"Everything we do at the McCartney Foundation is to honor Brian's memory and bring the same humility, compassion and dedication to serving the Deaf community that Brian lived each day of his disease-shortened life," said Norm Veit, president and founder of the McCartney Foundation. "He was a brilliant man who dedicated his life to improving the lives of the Deaf."
Born in July 1950 to David and Kathryn McCartney of Philadelphia, Brian attended the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf before being mainstreamed into local middle and high schools.
He went on to attend Susquehanna University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in education, followed by two master's degrees and a doctorate in Deaf education from Columbia University's Teachers College.
Throughout his career, McCartney held a series of increasingly responsible positions dedicated to education and service to people with disabilities. He taught at the Lexington School for the Deaf in New York City and served as assistant principal of the Nassau BOCES Program for the Hearing Impaired.
He later became director of secondary education at the Human Resources School for children and young adults with severe physical disabilities. He subsequently served as executive director of the Joseph Bulava School and then the Cerebral Palsy League of Union County, New Jersey.
McCartney ultimately achieved what many considered his dream position when he became the first Deaf superintendent of the Michigan School for the Deaf. He also served as interim superintendent of the Michigan School for the Blind. He held these leadership positions for seven years before succumbing to leukemia in April 1998 at the age of 47.
His professional accomplishments reflected his deep commitment to improving the lives of people with disabilities. McCartney was also a world traveler who shared his knowledge of Deaf education with educators in Asia and Africa.
Outside of his professional life, McCartney was an avid long-distance runner who completed the New York City Marathon. He also had a deep appreciation for theater and the performing arts.
"Brian was an amazing, kind and loving human being to all who knew him," Veit said.
Veit recalled one particularly moving example of McCartney's compassion. Brian once spent three weeks visiting a woman in a New York City hospital after her family learned of his ability to read lips. The woman had a tracheotomy and was unable to speak, but Brian visited her every day after work, reading her lips so that she could communicate with her family during the final weeks of her life.
"That's the kind of person Brian was," Veit said. "And that is the love and dedication we want the McCartney Foundation to bring each day to the organizations we serve."
The McCartney Foundation invites members of the community to join the organization on October 17 at Peace Valley Park for the inaugural 5K Run and 1-Mile Walk.
Participants can run or walk in honor of Brian McCartney while helping the foundation continue the work to which he devoted his life: supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals, their families, and the organizations that serve them.
"We hope the community will come out, enjoy the day and help us continue Brian's legacy," Veit said.
To register for the 5K or 1-Mile Walk, or to make a donation, visit McCartneyFoundation.org.
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