Team Hoyt Arizona Startup Costs

Team Hoyt Arizona  is a free community program for people of all ages with special needs. We pair ANYONE up with our volunteers and we race together!

Team Hoyt Arizona wants to say...

Yes You Can!

You can do it. We want to see you cross the finish line. You’ve got what it takes!

Whether you’re an athlete (with or without a disability), a volunteer, a fundraiser, a donor, or a sponsor…

You are racing for a new finish line everyday, pulling hard for inclusion. Can you make it count?

Yes You Can!



Include all people 
There are people everywhere who believe in community and equality that includes all people.

They show up in large numbers when our team rallies for a race, because they want to help. They contribute lovingly because they know the value of our operation.

Inclusion becomes possible when we have an understanding of all people; but it only happens when we actively include them.

Make it real
 
It takes action – passionate, loving action – to make real inclusion possible. That’s the reason for Team Hoyt Arizona.

Your victory is something we cherish, and we work as a team to help you realize it.

What is your goal?

To compete in an event despite any form of disability?

To help someone else experience the thrill of endurance sports?

To be part of a spark for an ‘inclusion explosion’ in Arizona?

By working together we can do anything.

We are a team and we rely on you for our victory.

As your teammates, we’re ready to challenge you. It’s time to take action and make a difference.



Take the challenge now:
 
1. If you want to complete a race event with a team’s help (buddy running and/or wheelchair riding), let us help you do it. Join the team today!

2. If you think you can help push our athletes and fundraise our team to victory, then we need your help! Get involved!

3. If you value this kind of inclusion opportunity for Tucson and Arizona, then please take a moment to give to our nonprofit organization.

4. If you know a business that would like to take a meaningful role in Arizona’s race for inclusion, please tell them about our nonprofit organization.


How does it work?

Our organization is dedicated to sharing the racing and team experience with anyone who wishes to join, including people with special needs and diverse abilities or disabilities. 

By putting Arizona's athletes together in this way, we are fostering relationships and building community networks that can make a big difference for people with disabilities.

Assisted athletes
At the core of our team, we have our assisted athletes. This is anyone who wants to join a real race – in a racing wheelchair, or by walking/running with a buddy team, or both!

When people see the smiles on the faces of these athletes racing by, they become convinced and thrilled by the value of our organization.

Assistant athletes
Next, we have our assistant athletes. They work with heart and passion together to get their assisted athlete across the finish line. They have given up the race for personal glory and want to put all their effort into helping their friend.

Unless they are in an assisted athlete’s immediate family, these volunteers have a minimum fundraising requirement in order to enter each event. We do not require any level of physical fitness for this job, and we’ll try to team you up with a similar group of athletes to help with pace-setting.

The guideline for each team is to finish together, and finish strong! Our teams hold back when an assistant athlete is having trouble with the workout.

Donors & sponsors
We rely on our donors and sponsors as core teammates. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we are beginning to cover some of our costs. We are a qualified public charity, and donors can deduct contributions they make to our organization under IRC Section 170.

Our supporters choose whether they prefer to make a one-time donation when the time is right, or to sign up for an automatic monthly pledge. Either is a fantastic and quick way to make a big difference for our organization.

Businesses provide us with sponsorships because we are aligned with their core values.

Volunteers
To make this racing experience happen, we need volunteers. It takes a lot of people contributing their time and skills to make our organization run. We need race day volunteers, non-race day volunteers, and long-term administrative volunteers.


How much does it cost?

Our highest costs include:

Insurance
A nonprofit racing team like ours requires multiple types of insurance. Our current insurance costs are about $108 per month.

Race entry fees
We pay for our assisted athletes’ race entry fees (unless they are donated by race organizers). We also pay for their immediate family members to race as assistant athletes. It is important for us to make the racing experience free for them. These costs are usually $300+ for each event.

Racing chairs
We help our assisted athletes employ a fundraising campaign to save up for their own racing chair. Meanwhile, we maintain several racing chairs for those who have not yet gotten one. The cost for these chairs is $3,000 to $5,000 each. They also require costly regular maintenance for safety.

Website hosting & systems
Our hosting is currently being donated to us but soon
we’ll  require high quality website hosting for our site (about $300 per year). We also use a mailing list automation service to manage team emails (another $228 per year).

Next we’re fundraising for event registration software. These systems range in price and effectiveness ($49+ per month, or $1+ per event registrant).

Promotional materials
We need to spread the message of inclusion all around Arizona and beyond, and to do this we need to purchase promotional materials ($500+ per year). This includes signs, printed materials, vehicle wraps, custom wheelchair wheel covers, and other promotional items.

Team apparel
We will try to sell as much of our team apparel as possible at the team store, but we want to give away a lot of Team Hoyt Arizona t-shirts ($300+ per year).

Team van
Our team requires a vehicle for transportation of our racing gear. We are currently seeking a sponsorship for this cost because it will cost thousands of dollars.



We have responsible leadership. 

Our Board of Directors work together to manage our scheduling, finances, and operations. They are all unpaid volunteers and they weigh organizational decisions carefully.

 
We're a qualified public charity.
 
Team Hoyt Arizona is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization with tax exempt status. This means that donors can deduct contributions they make to Team Hoyt Arizona under IRC Section 170.

How did it start?

Lucas King, the son of Steve and Denise King, was born in Tucson in 2007. Steve and Denise were very excited to bring Lucas into the world, and had made a lot of plans together for his future.


Life is not simple for Lucas, and he was born ten weeks early with the umbilical cord around his neck, injuring him. None of us can possibly imagine how that changed Steve’s and Denise’s lives unless we have been through it ourselves as parents.

At nine years old, Lucas is strong and his family is joyful. To hear them talk about it today inspires courage, happiness, and self-reflection. They have moved beyond Lucas’ disabilities to live an amazing life together with him.

Steve and Denise understood very early that Lucas deserves many experiences that are not available to him because companies and organizations don’t have accessible options for people with special needs. They usually needed to make extra effort to make sure people would include Lucas.

Lucas’ parents are both athletes, and Lucas loves participating in sports. Basketball, football, baseball, running, cycling – he loves it all! The rougher, the better!

Anytime Steve went running, he’d always take Lucas and push him in the stroller. Lucas loved it, and when they hit bumps he would crack up laughing hysterically. Having seen how much Lucas enjoyed running in his stroller, Denise and Steve became very involved in the wheelchair athletics community.

Steve and Denise had an inspiring story with a powerful message. “Why can’t Lucas take part in this activity?” They became nonprofit activists and devoted enormous energy to public charity activism focused on inclusion.

By rallying more and more volunteers behind the cause of inclusion, Steve and Denise were inspiring people to action. It was time to get organized!

The Kings were friends with their heroes, Rick and Dick Hoyt, and when they spoke about their organization with them Mr. Hoyt offered them the use of their name. This was a true honor for the organization because of what he and Rick had started.

Steve and Denise put together a Board of Directors and in March, 2016 founded Team Hoyt Arizona. In April the IRS determined our 501 (c) (3) nonprofit to be a qualified public charity and granted us tax exempt status.

We’ve already participated in races in Arizona and Massachusetts, and our calendar has a full race season planned!


'Yes You Can!'
 
Tucson needs organizations that include people with disabilities in activities and create public awareness.

Our organization has high costs of operation, but we’ve succeeded to launch our program thanks to the generosity of our community.

Your contribution makes a real difference. 

Thank you for taking your time to read our message. Please consider making a monetary contribution from your heart.