Be The Boat Fund - Ultra Marathon
Tax deductible
History:
Started by my family in 2016, the Hunter Quigley Coe Be The Boat Fund was named in honor of my brother and echoes a reference shared at his funeral Mass. While Hunter was not a religious person, the poem captures a lot about his life:
“And I saw the river over which every soul must pass
to reach the kingdom of heaven
and the name of that river was suffering;
and I saw a boat which carries souls across the river
and the name of that boat was love.”
Despite experiencing suffering himself, Hunter served as “the boat of love” to many and it is that instinct – to help without reservation – that we wished to honor. Hunter loved children, was an incredibly empathetic soul, loved the water, teaching swim lessons and appreciated the educational opportunities provided to him. It seemed only fitting to celebrate Hunter’s caring nature with the launch, on what would have been his 25th birthday, of the Be The Boat Fund.
Since 2016, the Fund has issued annual grants to support swim and sailing lessons for children who’ve been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. In 2018, the Fund underwrote support for a social worker to provide mental/behavioral health services to children at/below the poverty line whose needs were identified during routine dental visits. The opportunity to change the trajectory of a child’s life with a well-timed mental health intervention motivates our work.
2019 Challenge:
But how to fund these initiatives? Last year, my good friend Connor O’Hearn and I challenged ourselves and our friends in order to raise money to grow the fund and awareness of its powerful purpose. The challenge in the summer of 2018 was a 50-mile Ultra Marathon located high in the Rockies in Grand Mesa, Colorado. This year, I am continuing this tradition by participating in the Bigfoot 200, a 206.5-mile non-stop trail run through the Cascade Mountain range in Washington State on August 9, 2019.
The reason for choosing this specific race is that I feel it echoes the spirit of the Fund which helps promote confidence through outdoor recreational activities. Additionally, the struggles of this race align with the struggles of depression or any low-point in life, in that only obstacles are guaranteed and accomplishment is not certain. While Hunter hated to run for exercise, he sure chased me and my other siblings a lot as children, and I like to think I have his support as I run this race in his memory.
Thank you for your support!
- Lawlor
http://www.betheboat.org/
More about Be The Boat:
Since 2016, Be The Boat has partnered with Hephzibah Children’s Association (www.hephzibahhome.org) in Oak Park, IL to provide expanded swimming opportunities for community children; Hunter volunteered at Hephzibah during 8th grade so it seemed like a natural fit to launch our grant-making with the group. Hephzibah is a local social service agency which provides a nurturing home and therapeutic services to 26 children who have been removed from their homes due to trauma and neglect, as well as to 90 children in area foster care homes. For these children, summer rarely represents the carefree days of our childhood – pickled skin from endless days at the beach or pool, suntans and sleepovers. Rather, most of the children participate in some sort of year-round therapeutic program school so their summer days are remarkably similar to a regular school day, with the exception of less after school programming.
With our partnership with Hephzibah, we strive to remember Hunter with our promise to Be The Boat to others. Won't you join us?
http://www.betheboat.org/
Started by my family in 2016, the Hunter Quigley Coe Be The Boat Fund was named in honor of my brother and echoes a reference shared at his funeral Mass. While Hunter was not a religious person, the poem captures a lot about his life:
“And I saw the river over which every soul must pass
to reach the kingdom of heaven
and the name of that river was suffering;
and I saw a boat which carries souls across the river
and the name of that boat was love.”
Despite experiencing suffering himself, Hunter served as “the boat of love” to many and it is that instinct – to help without reservation – that we wished to honor. Hunter loved children, was an incredibly empathetic soul, loved the water, teaching swim lessons and appreciated the educational opportunities provided to him. It seemed only fitting to celebrate Hunter’s caring nature with the launch, on what would have been his 25th birthday, of the Be The Boat Fund.
Since 2016, the Fund has issued annual grants to support swim and sailing lessons for children who’ve been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. In 2018, the Fund underwrote support for a social worker to provide mental/behavioral health services to children at/below the poverty line whose needs were identified during routine dental visits. The opportunity to change the trajectory of a child’s life with a well-timed mental health intervention motivates our work.
2019 Challenge:
But how to fund these initiatives? Last year, my good friend Connor O’Hearn and I challenged ourselves and our friends in order to raise money to grow the fund and awareness of its powerful purpose. The challenge in the summer of 2018 was a 50-mile Ultra Marathon located high in the Rockies in Grand Mesa, Colorado. This year, I am continuing this tradition by participating in the Bigfoot 200, a 206.5-mile non-stop trail run through the Cascade Mountain range in Washington State on August 9, 2019.
The reason for choosing this specific race is that I feel it echoes the spirit of the Fund which helps promote confidence through outdoor recreational activities. Additionally, the struggles of this race align with the struggles of depression or any low-point in life, in that only obstacles are guaranteed and accomplishment is not certain. While Hunter hated to run for exercise, he sure chased me and my other siblings a lot as children, and I like to think I have his support as I run this race in his memory.
Thank you for your support!
- Lawlor
http://www.betheboat.org/
More about Be The Boat:
Since 2016, Be The Boat has partnered with Hephzibah Children’s Association (www.hephzibahhome.org) in Oak Park, IL to provide expanded swimming opportunities for community children; Hunter volunteered at Hephzibah during 8th grade so it seemed like a natural fit to launch our grant-making with the group. Hephzibah is a local social service agency which provides a nurturing home and therapeutic services to 26 children who have been removed from their homes due to trauma and neglect, as well as to 90 children in area foster care homes. For these children, summer rarely represents the carefree days of our childhood – pickled skin from endless days at the beach or pool, suntans and sleepovers. Rather, most of the children participate in some sort of year-round therapeutic program school so their summer days are remarkably similar to a regular school day, with the exception of less after school programming.
With our partnership with Hephzibah, we strive to remember Hunter with our promise to Be The Boat to others. Won't you join us?
http://www.betheboat.org/
Organizer
Lawlor Coe
Organizer
River Forest, IL
Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
