To mark the one-year anniversary of the iconic disaster, long distance swimmer and recent world record holder, Diana Nyad, took part in a continuous 48 hour swim in a 120 foot, 2 lane pool in the middle of New York City's historic Herald Square. On October 9th, members of the ACI team were there alongside various celebrities, athletes, first responders and organizations to swim with Nyad and support the cause.
This historic event meant a great deal of importance to ACI, as team members Salma Harris and Millie Gonzalez both lost their homes during Sandy and remain displaced nearly a year later. Before her swim with Nyad, Salma had a chance to share her continuing story of heartache and frustration in the aftermath of storm. While fighting back tears, Nyad gave Salma some words of encouragement and mentioned that she was the first Sandy victim to swim with her at the event.
"Being a Sandy victim/survivor and having Diana Nyad bring awareness to the public that many of us are still trying to rebuild what we've lost, it was an honor to be a part of the event." - Salma Harris
ACI
was chosen to take part in this great cause due to their partnership
with AmeriCares, which involved a series of education seminars on
emergency preparedness for people with disabilities. For more details,
please visit adacil.org.
ACI would like to extend a huge thank you to Lindsay O'Brien,
Corey Langworthy, Randy Weiss, MacLean Cadman and Leslie Gianelli from AmeriCares for
the amazing opportunity to participate in the Nyad Swim for Relief. We
are grateful to AmeriCares and Citizen Paine for the opportunity to
work with them on ensuring the venue was fully accessible for all
participants. It was truly an honor and we are proud to be a partner!
Swim for Relief raised over $108,000 with $1000 on behalf of ACI. Proceeds benefited the AmeriCares Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund.
The fundraiser will continue for 21 more days, so if you wish to donate, please visit crowdrise.com/AllianceCenterforIndependence.
