NEWS

Arizona Gives Day: When smiles, small miracles happen

Dianna M. Náñez
The Republic | azcentral.com
Joaquin Valencia, 9, smiles as he rides a two-wheeled bicycle for the first time last spring in Tempe.

Sometimes a child's smile is all it takes to make you feel like you're making a difference in the world.

For Denise Rentschler, that gift came when 9-year-old Joaquin Valencia got to ride a big kid's bicycle for the first time last spring.

"Joaquin was smiling so big," she said. "It was beautiful."

Joaquin was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when he was an infant. He was blind by the time he was 6 months old.

Joaquin had longed ached to ride a two-wheeled bike, the way his friends could. Bicycle-riding would be Joaquin's ticket to fulfilling his big dream: competing in a triathlon like the one hosted at his Tempe school.

That's when Joaquin's PE teacher Sally Picket and Rentschler came together to help the little boy make his wish come true.

Picket connected with Rentschler, who founded Team Asa, a non-profit that provides financial support for recreational programs that are adapted to serve children and adults with disabilities.

Team Asa is one of the many non-profits that will benefit from Arizona Gives Day on April 7. The 24-hour online fundraiser challenges individuals across Arizona to donate to a local non-profit they believe is doing good in the community.

Last year, donors raised more than $1.4 million. Hosted by the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits and the Arizona Grantmakers

Team ASA Polar Plunge fundraiser.

Forum, Arizona Gives Day was launched to boost funding that often fades after the holiday season. Charities participating serve widespread needs such as services for abused children, food banks and literacy programs.

Team Asa's biggest fundraiser so far has been an annual winter neighborhood polar plunge. This is the first year the non-profit will participate in Arizona Gives Day. To qualify, non-profits must be a registered 501c3 and headquartered in Arizona or providing services in the state.

"We're a really small non-profit so it means so much to our work," Rentschler said.

The funds serve children like Joaquin who deserve to participate in the same activities as their peers, she said.

"We had to make this happen," Rentschler said, recalling the effort to purchase a bike that Joaquin could ride despite his blindness.

Picket had already helped Joaquin overcome his fear of swimming, a required triathlon event.

This photo of Asa Draper with Big Red is his sister Denise Rentschler's favorite  because it shows his crooked smile and love of the Cardinals.

Team Asa worked with a local bike shop that found the perfect tandem bike. The non-profit purchased two of the bicycles – one that Joaquin and other students at his school could use, and one for Joaquin to take home for triathlon practice.

Each year on Asa's April 1 birthday his family gathers at his memorial tree in Tempe.

Joaquin rode the bike for the first time with Picket as his co-pilot last spring. He's been practicing for months. In May, he will finally fulfill his dream when he competes in a Mesa triathlon.

Rentschler said her brother Asa Draper, after whom the non-profit is named, would be delighted for Joaquin.

Asa died in 2010 at 39 of complications from neurofibromatosis. The disease caused blindness in one of Asa's eyes and tumors that made it difficult for him to walk straight.

"These types of programs meant so much to my brother," she said. "He had the biggest heart in the world. I know he'd be smiling as big as Joaquin."

Arizona Gives Day: https://azgives.givebig.org/c/GivesDay/

Donors and non-profits are asked to use the hashtag, #WhyIGiveAz, to promote each charity's services.

Dianna M. Náñez writes about stories in Arizona and the rest of the world that make us believe in humanity, faith, hope and love. Drop her a line about your community's superheroes. You know the ones – kind, resilient, empathetic people making small miracles happen.

Follow her on Twitter: @diannananez.