With hundreds of runners of all levels of ability, the ‘ADI Fleet’ inclusive running team was everywhere all at once at the 13th annual Jerusalem Marathon, promoting the advancement of the most vulnerable members of Israeli society and highlighting the importance of disability inclusion, equity and access during a time when the reality of disability looms large.
Sporting luminescent green running shirts and even brighter smiles, ADI staff members, volunteers and supporters tore up the 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon tracks, while more than three dozen ADI residents – young women and men who were never expected to walk – pounded the pavement at the 800-meter ‘Communities Track,’ pushing their limits in specially-made walkers to show that disability doesn’t mean inability.
“Year after year, it is a very special experience to see people gather at the Jerusalem Marathon from across the country and around world, and it is incredibly heartening when they stop to cheer us on. This year, it means even more to see so many Jews show up to actively choose resilience, strength and life,” said Shlomit Grayevsky, Director of ADI Jerusalem.
“Each and every day, our ADI family chooses life and love, and I am so proud that we are always leading the charge for true inclusion, that we are always highlighting what unites us, rather than what divides us.”
As in past years, ADI Fleet’s “sea of green” was comprised of more than 300 staff members, volunteers, ADI residents and special education students and their families, and young women and men on gap year programs. Having developed a deep connection with the ADI family throughout the year, these fleet-footed ambassadors jumped at the chance to run with and for them in the Jerusalem Marathon.
By race day, these passionate young leaders raised over $25,000 to empower the ADI residents and special education students by providing them with the tools, treatments and therapies they need to take strides towards greater mobility.
