The calendar dictated Rudy Garcia-Tolson’s clothing choices as a teenager. Was it Monday through Friday? Pants. Was it the weekend? Swim gear that revealed his prosthetics. Garcia-Tolson was proud and empowered by his relationship with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which made him the first kid to earn a grant at age 8.
” Some dreams need a little wrenchin’. The CAF donated a Suburban and a stipend as the now-9-year-old signed on as a spokesperson for the group. Doors, seemingly bolted shut before, began to open. Now, three decades in, the organization has raised more than $159 million used across 44,000 grants in all 50 states and 73 countries in 105 sports. The CAF just awarded its first grant in wheelchair pickleball. No raised noses around those offices.