April 11, 2014

by: Guest Contributor

Team Sankovic at the Race to Empower

This week’s blog post was written by Alexandra Sankovic, the sister of Julia, one of our Children’s Services clients. Read below as Alexandra shares her experience about completing last year’s Race to Empower with Julia.

I’ve never seen anybody work as hard as my sister, Julia. Julia is such a fighter. She wants to do everything imaginable, even run in races. Last year, the Race to Empower allowed her to do just that. My brother, Peter, and I ran in the race with Julia, taking turns pushing her in her wheelchair throughout the 5 kilometer path. When we got close to the finish line of the race, we took Julia out of her chair and together, as siblings, ran across the finish line. Experiencing something as inspirational as finishing a race with my sister was truly a life changing experience. Julia’s giant smile as she crossed the finish line was contagious, spreading to everyone cheering for her at the end of the race.

UCP of Greater Cleveland is such a wonderful organization and has provided Julia with therapy services for almost her entire life. I have spent some of my summers volunteering there and helping out with a few of the other children receiving services. Not only was it inspiring to see Julia in the race, but also the other children running with their families, some running with walkers and some in wheelchairs, like Julia. Because of the Race to Empower, everyone was able to participate in the race and run together, cheering each other on and inspiring each other to do the best they could. The Race to Empower was a motivational and meaningful experience and I can’t wait to participate again.

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