When the Franklin Rodeo kicks off, it’s not just about the “bucks” of the horses, it’s the “bucks” that the rodeo raises. Through the Franklin Noon Rotary Club, the producer of the rodeo, proceeds each year are awarded to a variety of non-profit organizations throughout Williamson County and middle Tennessee. Last year, nearly seventy different organizations received Rotary funds to assist with everything from children with developmental disabilities to 4-H, and from home safety to Operation Santa, and more.

 

For the children at ABLE Youth, the money donated by the Noon Rotary Club keeps their wheelchairs running—and those wheelchairs are often used for sports, said Amy Saffell, executive director for ABLE Youth.

 

“Through adaptive sports, kids with physical disabilities learn to be more independent,” Amy said.

 

ABLE Youth used funds given by the Rotary Club to purchase replacement axles for basketball wheelchairs, along with ratchet and leg straps, basketballs, and scrimmage jerseys. "The wheelchairs are chairs made specifically for sports, which move a lot faster and easier, and they can turn better,” says Amy. "They have adaptations for basketball, including a bar in front of the feet, which protects the feet but also allows the participant to set defensive positions and screens."

“Kids come into our program not knowing what they are capable of,” Amy tells us. “Once they learn, 'I can play basketball, I can play tennis,' they start to think, 'what else can I do if I can do this?' That goes way into their future, like, 'I can go to college, and I can live independently.' It creates a chain reaction of thinking of all the other things they can do with their life.”