At Power to Be’s Prospect Lake site, a special presentation wraps up.
It all began with Kevin Peterson, who was an avid outdoorsman before a series of strokes left him confined to a wheelchair.
“Throughout his whole life he just loved being in nature and loved being outside enjoying all those activities,” says Kevin’s mother Debbie Peterson.
“So when he ended up in a wheelchair those things really weren’t that accessible to him anymore,” she adds.
With their adaptive recreation activities, Power to Be soon began providing the link to the great outdoors Peterson was missing.
“Power to Be just opened the door for him in such a huge way and they say everybody belongs in nature and Kevin was that person,” says Debbie.
“He belonged in nature and it just brought him so much joy,” adds Debbie.
After Kevin’s passing last year, a team of individuals came together to raise money for Power to Be’s annual Power to Summit in his honour. That gesture led the Peterson family to start their own foundation in memory of their late son and brother.
“We’ve really wanted to build a foundation wrapped around the idea of giving people with disabilities access to the thing that he loved,” says Kevin’s brother Ryan Peterson.
“That stirred a great conversation which then led to us really looking at if we had funding to support our programs, what would be that way that would be really closely connected to what Kevin loved,” says Carinna Kenigsberg, Power to Be’s director of programs.
Fittingly, the first donation from the Kevin Peterson Foundation was to the charity and adaptive recreation program that helped him in his time of need.
“As a family just to know that other people are going to be able to get so much joy … I’m speechless, I don’t know what to say,” says Debbie.
Cole Sorenson
