Just start

Rick Hansen shares a top tip for pursuing your dream.       

Thirty-one years ago when I pushed my wheelchair out of Vancouver to begin the Man In Motion World Tour, I began a two-year journey around the world to prove the potential of people with disabilities.

People often ask me what the most difficult part of the Man In Motion World Tour was. When I look back, it wasn’t the physical toll, braving the sometimes punishing weather, or even when my future wife Amanda threw her salad at me and almost left the tour because I was acting like a jerk.

Honestly, the most difficult part of the tour was just starting on that first day – March 21, 1985.

As I reflect on the anniversary, I feel grateful that I was able to just start despite all the voices in my head telling me my dream was impossible. I know there are millions of people in the world today with their own dreams who are struggling to get started.

That’s why I need your help today.

The Rick Hansen Foundation team is tackling a big problem. By 2030, it’s estimated that over 9 million Canadians will have some form of disability that includes mobility, vision, hearing or cognitive challenges. People with disabilities are the fastest growing demographic in the world today. And we’re not ready.

In many ways I feel like we’ve come full circle. We’re beginning a new chapter in the Rick Hansen Foundation’s journey with yet another seemingly ‘impossible’ dream: ensuring that the built environment in Canada will be fully accessible by 2050 as defined by the buildings and places where people with disabilities live, work and play.

Will you support a team with over thirty years of experience to tackle one of the biggest challenges of our generation?

You’ll be a valued partner in realizing another ‘impossible’ dream and by doing so, liberate the potential of people with disabilities in Canada and eventually around the world.

Starting this dream is easy.

Click our Get Involved page and sign-up for our e-newsletter, read and share our informative blog, watch our videos, join us on Facebook and Twitter, or make a donation.

I posted my 4 top tips on starting a dream on the Get Involved page of our web site. No dream is impossible when we work together. I look forward to working with you!

With gratitude,

Rick Hansen

PS: You can make a deeper impact with a simple bequest in your Will. Or receive tax savings benefits today by making a gift of stock. Click our Legacy page. My colleague Renee Eaton is available for your questions at 1-800-213-2131 ext. 1550 or by email at [email protected].