Amputee Coalition of America

When a pebble is tossed into a pond it creates a ripple effect. Our goal is for that ripple to become a wave that changes the experience of people affected by limb loss for the better. We believe we can all be that pebble in the pond.

Pebbles is a new quarterly publication of the Amputee Coalition that showcases the difference being made through the generous support of our friends, partners and associates. Over the past almost 25 years, the Amputee Coalition has made much progress – but the need is large and our hearts and minds are steadfastly dedicated to making more progress.

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Your gift can be put to use immediately where it is needed most. Or, you can direct your gift to one of the following areas:

• Youth Camp
• Advocacy
• National Peer Network
• National Limb Loss Information Center

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» Donate Now

When you make a gift to the Amputee Coalition of America, you not only help support our mission and future success, you also receive certain benefits for your generosity. A charitable gift annuity (CGA) pays you and/or another person lifetime payments in exchange for your gift.

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Where are gifts to the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) directed?

Where do gifts come from?

Is my donation tax-deductible?

Can I choose a specific ACA program or activity to support?

How do I make a gift in someone's memory?

Does the ACA need my donation?

What is a matching gift?

» Read the answers

The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) has received its first endowed scholarship fund, with an initial gift of $25,000 from Christina Skoski, M.D. The award will grant a student with limb loss $1,000 to be used toward his or her college education, and the recipient will be announced on May 31, 2009.

Dr. Skoski, a hemipelvectomy amputee since age 15, has been a longtime member and supporter of the ACA, and currently serves on the Medical Advisory Committee.

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I love to rescue things from ending up in landfills, trash cans and city dumps. Call me green, environmentally friendly or just sentimental, but I feel good when something that still has value can find a new lease on life. Maybe it’s because I’m approaching the stage in my life when I too would welcome the same…a few more good years. So, my hobby has become a way to donate to my favorite charity, the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA). That’s why I love antiques, yard sales and auctions.

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The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) acknowledges Otto Bock HealthCare as its inaugural corporate Diamond Sponsor. The Diamond Sponsorship, at $60,000, is the nonprofit organization’s highest level of corporate sponsorship.

“Throughout our 90 years in prosthetics, our mission has been to offer people with limb loss as much independence and mobility as possible,” says Brad Ruhl, VP and GM of Technical Orthopedics for Otto Bock HealthCare US. “By giving to the ACA, we support a group with similar values and direction. We also understand how important it is for the Amputee Coalition to be able to plan based on commitments for donations and sponsorships, and Otto Bock is happy to formalize the financial commitment we are making to the ACA and to people with limb loss in the United States.”

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The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) is proud to recognize the longstanding commitment and support of Ohio Willow Wood (OWW), which became a Bronze Sponsor in 2009. Ohio Willow Wood is excited about the opportunity to help the Youth Camp – so much so that it decided to split its sponsorship dollars between general support of the Amputee Coalition and specific support of the ACA Youth Camp. In its continuing commitment to children with limb loss, this year OWW will be one of the leading Youth Camp donors.

Ohio Willow Wood and the Amputee Coalition have been strong partners in helping amputees since 1997. Ohio Willow Wood President and CEO Bob Arbogast signed the first sponsorship agreement between OWW and the ACA in September 1997, as a Tier 1 Sponsor, which was the highest sponsorship level at that time.

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The Amputee Coalition Youth Camp plays a vital role in helping youths with limb loss and limb difference learn that they are not alone. Its mission is to make a difference in the lives of children with limb loss and limb difference by increasing their self-confidence and self-esteem through a traditional and supportive summer camp experience. Now the Coalition is starting a new push to raise funds for the camp and awareness of its mission.

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The New York-based Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation's grant-making program is centered on health and well-being. The Foundation's purpose is to promote and support effective and creative programs, practices and policies related to healing from illness, accident or physical, social or emotional trauma and to extend the availability of programs that promote healing to underserved populations. For the Langeloth Foundation, healing is seen as including not only physical recovery from illness, accident or trauma, but also the emotional dimensions of recovery. Since 2004, the Langeloth Foundation’s grant-making has emphasized caregiving.

In January 2007, the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) conducted a survey of caregivers of amputees which indicated that 56 percent of caregivers experience a variety of problems or symptoms as a result of their caregiving duties, including feeling stressed or panicked (49 percent), spending less time with friends and family (46 percent), decreased energy (44 percent) and loss of sleep (43 percent).

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Volume 1, Issue 1
Published four times a year by

Amputee Coalition of America
900 E. Hill Ave., Ste. 205
Knoxville, TN 37915-2566
865/524-8772
888/AMP-KNOW (267-5669)
Fax: 865/525-7917; TTY: 865/525-4512
E-mail: pebbles@amputee-coalition.org
Web site: www.amputee-coalition.org

ACA Mission
To reach out to people with limb loss and to empower them through education, support and advocacy.

President & CEO: Kendra Calhoun, MS
Pebbles Editor: Elan Young
Editor: Rick Bowers
Senior Editor: Bill Dupes
Associate Editor: Scott McNutt
Staff Writer: Elan Young
E-Mail/Web Design: Chilla Services
Nameplate Design: Chilla Services

» ACA Board of Directors
» ACA Medical Advisory Committee

Chair: Eve Rachel Markewich, Esq., New York

Pat Chelf, Minnesota

Marshall J. Cohen, Esq., New York

Kendra Calhoun, ACA President and CEO, Virginia

There's good news for individuals 70 1/2 years of age or older with individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Thanks to the extended charitable IRA legislation, you can once again make outright gifts using IRA funds without tax implications.

If you are required to receive minimum distributions from your IRA and you do not need the money for personal use, consider using those distributions as a charitable gift. While you cannot claim a charitable deduction for the IRA gifts, you will not pay income tax on the amount.

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Acts of generosity and kindness, like pebbles tossed in a pond, create ripples that grow wider and wider, touching more and more people. Recently, Michael J. Allen, the outgoing president of the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics, Inc. (ABC), created more than a ripple – he made a wave. Allen’s act of generosity was to donate his departing gift from ABC to the Amputee Coalition of America’s Youth Camp – a gift that will touch more than the individual it was intended for.

Traditionally, after serving a 1-year term as president of ABC, the departing president is honored by the organization with a gift. For his departure, though, Allen had a different idea.

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