Inaugural "Sailapalooza" raises $9000

Luis Amaro, right, president of the Miami Chapter of the Spinal Cord Injury Support Group addresses "Sailapalooza" attendees as Maria Gonzalez (left), Michael Noel and Darrell Gwynn listen. Shake-A-Leg Miami held their inaugural Sailapalooza fundraiser on Sunday along with the Spinal Cord Injury Support Group and The Darrell Gwynn Foundation, The Sabrina Cohen Foundation for Stem Cell Research and Traumatic Injury Support Foundation.

Over 250 people showed up to support the event, raising $9000 at the end of the day to help underwrite education, research and recreational options for people with disabilities.


The Darrell Gwynn Foundation presented custom power wheelchairs to two deserving South Floridians at the event -- Maria Gonzalez, 20, of Hialeah who is living with spina bifida, received a new $18,000 wheelchair and she is now able to realize her dream of going to college because of it.

Michael Adam Noel, a senior at North Miami Beach Senior High School is orthopedically impaired, a condition that adversely affects learning and/or educational performance, received a $17,000 chair which will improve his mobility and enhance his lifestyle. Michael is shown here being transferred into his new power wheelchair by Conrad L. Perez (left) and Michael Wilson from DMR Corporation, an assistive and rehab technology provider serving the disabled community and a “Sailapalooza” co-sponsor. Ocean Conversions and Miami Physical Therapy were also co-sponsors.

All proceeds from “Sailapalooza” are being divided among five 501(c)3 not-for-profit organizations .


“Supporting others is what The Darrell Gwynn Foundation is all about and, thanks to the ongoing generosity of our donors, we were able to give both of these deserving young people a new perspective on life,” said Darrell Gwynn (shown here with Maria Gonzalez), a former National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) champion.

Info on the charities involved are here:

The Darrell Gwynn Foundation: www.darrellgwynnfoundation.org
The Sabrina Cohen Foundation for Stem Cell Research: www.sabrinacohenfoundation.org
Shake-A-Leg Miami: www.shakealegmiami.org
Spinal Cord Injury Support Group: www.scisg.org
Traumatic Injury Support Foundation: www.traumahelpnow.org