October 7, 2011, Foxboro, MA - For the third year in a row, Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD) had a successful Rodman Ride for Kids. William Connors, a PYD Board member and father of toddler twins, rode alongside Juan Martin Botero, PYD mentor and Cambridge resident.

The ride was initially to take place on September 24, 2011, but was postponed to October 1, 2011. The riders came out in full force despite the rainy morning. Botero and Connors raced a 25-mile cycling course benefiting PYD, a Boston-based non-profit agency with a reputation for inclusive service to youth with and without disabilities.

Despite the challenges Botero faces with his diagnosis of Ataxia, he finished the race in three hours flat, twenty minutes faster than the previous year. The neurological dysfunction brought on by Ataxia affects gross motor coordination, so Botero uses adaptive equipment such as his recumbent bike, the Greenspeed Tadpole, for cycling training and racing, as well as his daily commute. Such equipment enables him to continue following his passions for the outdoors and travel, which culminated recently in his climb to Mt. Kilimanjaro’s summit and the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Botero wants to encourage young people facing challenges: "For this reason I believe in Partners for Youth with Disabilities, and I became a mentor: because I hope I can share with them my strengths and my stories, and I can show them that we can all climb Kilimanjaro in our own terms." He has served as a mentor through the Mentor Match program at Partners for Youth with Disabilities since 2009.

Partners’ opportunity to participate in the Rodman Ride comes thanks to Mass Mentoring Partnership, the state’s umbrella organization for youth mentorship. The non-competitive ride helps to provide critical funding for the programs of PYD, which include one-on-one mentorship, theatre access and entrepreneurial skills immersion classes. All are designed to help youth with disabilities to achieve their full potential.

Thank you for all of your donations.

Board Member Jennifer Williams' daughters, Lily and Sierra, cheered on PYD riders with their flashy signs!