“I wanted to let other athletes know that they weren’t
alone and that there was life after their injuries.”
– Roy Tuscany, High Fives Foundation
PHILANTHROPY
Fortunately, Tuscany was a candi-date
for spine stabilization surgery at
Renown Regional Medical Center in
Reno, Nev. While there, he also em-barked
on an intensive weeks-long re-habilitation
program.
Tuscany was also blessed to have a
strong support network. The outpour-ing
of support from family and friends
was tremendous. The Sugar Bowl com-munity,
together with his home com-munity
in Vermont, raised $85,000
to help fund his two-year-long road
to recovery.
Tuscany was filled with a sense of
gratitude. He made every effort to
reach out to donors to personally thank
them. Although he felt that wasn’t
enough and was moved to do more. “I
wanted to pay it forward,” said Tusca-ny.
“I wanted to do for others what so
many others had done for me.”
In 2009, with a new lease on life and
a strong desire to give back, Tuscany
started the High Fives Foundation
with the mission to provide resources,
support and community to outdoor
athletes who have had life-altering in-juries.
High Fives also helps those with
life-altering injuries that would like to
get into outdoor sports.
“This was my way of giving back,”
said Tuscany. “I wanted to let other
athletes know that they weren’t alone
and that there was life after their in-juries.”
High Fives is essentially about
giving someone a high-five through
their recovery process and introduc-ing
them to alternative sports such as
adaptive surfing, adaptive waterskiing
or adaptive skiing.
“Eleven years later, High Fives
has supported 300 individuals from
38 states across the country,” said
Tuscany. The organization’s growth
has been both organic and remarkable.
With every athlete they help, everyone
connected to that athlete becomes a
supporter. Much of the organiztion’s
growth has been along these lines.
Indeed, several High Fives athletes
have gone from being fund recipients
to becoming fundraisers and
donors themselves.
High Fives has three key areas of
programming: 1) The Empowerment
Fund, 2) The B.A.S.I.C.S. program and
3) the CR Johnson Healing Center.
Empowerment Fund
The Empowerment Fund makes re-sources
available to those that have
suffered a life-altering injury such as
an amputation or spinal cord injury.
Funds can go toward the cost of reha-bilitation,
travel, adaptive camps and
to the cost of adaptive equipment.
Adaptive sports equipment is especial-ly
costly as it is often custom-made.
Empowerment Fund recipients are
called High Fives Athletes and are
selected by an application process.
Applications are assessed by a board
and funds are dispensed on a quarterly
basis. Outdoor athletes from Canada,
the United States, and Mexico are
eligible to apply. In the September 2019
grant cycle, 45 individuals received
$176,046.41 in board approved
grant funding.
The Empowerment Fund receives
funding from donations, fundraising
events and non-government grants. In-kind
donations are also welcome.
The B.A.S.I.C.S.
program
The High Fives Foundation also works
to prevent accidents before they hap-pen
with their B.A.S.I.C.S. program,
which stands for Being Aware Safe in
Critical Situations. The B.A.S.I.C.S. pro-gram
is the foundation’s safety initia-tive
and is about “catching an athlete
before they crash,” said Tuscany.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HIGH FIVES FOUNDATION
#HighFivesAthletes Nick Fairall, Landon McGauley, Trevor
Kennision at Sugarbush Resort for a High Fives Adaptive Ski Camp
48 April 2020 | snowopsmag.com
/snowopsmag.com
