Be The Boat - Ultra Marathon
Tax deductible
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 of 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 his caring nature with the launch, on what would have been his 25th birthday, of the Be The Boat Fund.
To honor Hunter and our commitment to "Be The Boat" for others in our lives, my friend Connor and I want to challenge ourselves and our friends to a massive goal. Not only do we want to raise money to help grow the Be The Boat Fund, we also want to raise awarness with a powerful example.
As part of that challenge, we are training over the coming months to participate in a 50 mile ultra marathon to take place on July 28th, 2018 in the mountains of Colorado. We will train for this event and through our training, we will motivate and inspire those around us and those who follow our journey.
We made a commitment to live our lives to their fullest and push ourselves to bring light into the lives of the people around us. Through the over 1000 miles that we each will run in the coming months, we will make steps everyday to bring awareness to this cause so that more kids will have the courage and strength to do the same.
Thank you for your support!
- Connor & Lawlor
GRANTS:
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.
In 2016, we provided swimming and sailing lessons to a select cohort of Hephzibah residents and foster children. In 2017, Be the Boat underwrote the purchase of swim passes for Hephzibah residents as well as needed swim lessons for 40 children from the group home and those in foster care. To learn from Hephzibah directly about the impact of this gift, please visithttp://www.hephzibahhome. org/news-events/. In 2018, we plan to again partner with Hephzibah and are currently working with them on potential programs for the summer. We expect to announce our grant distribution on May 9, 2018!
With our partnership with Hephzibah, we strive to remember Hunter with our promise to Be The Boat to others. Won't you join us?
betheboat.org
“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 his caring nature with the launch, on what would have been his 25th birthday, of the Be The Boat Fund.
To honor Hunter and our commitment to "Be The Boat" for others in our lives, my friend Connor and I want to challenge ourselves and our friends to a massive goal. Not only do we want to raise money to help grow the Be The Boat Fund, we also want to raise awarness with a powerful example.
As part of that challenge, we are training over the coming months to participate in a 50 mile ultra marathon to take place on July 28th, 2018 in the mountains of Colorado. We will train for this event and through our training, we will motivate and inspire those around us and those who follow our journey.
We made a commitment to live our lives to their fullest and push ourselves to bring light into the lives of the people around us. Through the over 1000 miles that we each will run in the coming months, we will make steps everyday to bring awareness to this cause so that more kids will have the courage and strength to do the same.
Thank you for your support!
- Connor & Lawlor
GRANTS:
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.
In 2016, we provided swimming and sailing lessons to a select cohort of Hephzibah residents and foster children. In 2017, Be the Boat underwrote the purchase of swim passes for Hephzibah residents as well as needed swim lessons for 40 children from the group home and those in foster care. To learn from Hephzibah directly about the impact of this gift, please visithttp://www.hephzibahhome. org/news-events/. In 2018, we plan to again partner with Hephzibah and are currently working with them on potential programs for the summer. We expect to announce our grant distribution on May 9, 2018!
With our partnership with Hephzibah, we strive to remember Hunter with our promise to Be The Boat to others. Won't you join us?
betheboat.org
Organizer
Lawlor Coe
Organizer
Oak Park, IL
Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.