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Ofosu Yeboah, to seek acceptance and prove his ability. He requested a grant of a bike from CAF, which he received and rode across Ghana 600 kilometers for ten days. Together, Yeboah and MacLaren were honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2005 ESPN ESPY Awards, and Yeboah's experience was made into a film, Emmanuel's Gift, narrated by Oprah Winfrey. "I think the awareness of athletes with disabilities is way more than it's ever been before," says Babbitt. Now, he adds, "ere are sports for people who have all sorts of different disabilities that didn't exist before. And I think a ton of that is the awareness that CAF has created." Babbitt explains that this specialized equipment not only supports an individual's health through physical activity, but it impacts mental health and supports families by enabling them to share experiences that might not otherwise be possible. "You just see kids being well-rounded [with] sport being a part of their life," says Babbitt, "and adults as well." He credits CAF's Operation Rebound, a program created to support veterans, active military, and first responders, with providing a means for families to engage in activities together rather than being separated by a disability. "Imagine the family where Dad comes back [from military service] paralyzed from an IED," says Babbitt. "He comes back, and the family is going for a bike ride, but Dad doesn't have a hand cycle, so he doesn't go. Or, they have a hand cycle that they got from CAF, and the whole family goes [together]. at works a lot better, right?" CAF's signature annual event, the Million Dollar Challenge, engages athletes of all abilities to cycle down the California coast. e 2025 ride, a 640-mile trek from Santa Rosa to San Diego, raised more than $1.6 million this past October. "I think we had 22 Challenged Athletes on the ride, so they get to see the mission up close and personal," says Babbitt. "In terms of the donors, they get to ride next to [a rider using] a hand-cycle going up Big Sur or a visually impaired athlete on the back of a tandem. It changes your life." Babbitt says that more than half of the Paralympians in 2024 had received grants from CAF, so naturally, he's already eagerly looking forward to the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles. On February 7, 2026, CAF will host its first fundraiser in L.A., the Defying Limits Gala, to introduce CAF athletes and honor their achievements. Regardless of whether someone is an elite athlete or simply a kid who wants to engage in typical childhood activities, says Babbitt, "ere's nothing holding people back and accomplishing whatever they want with a little bit of help and support from Challenged Athletes Foundation." challengedathletes.org When Bob Babbitt's friend Jim MacLaren lost his leg in a traffic accident, and then, unthinkably, MacLaren survived a second accident that left him a quadriplegic, Babbitt and two friends, Jeffrey Essakow and Rick Kozlowski, came together to raise enough money to purchase MacLaren a specialized van. All competitive athletes, the men held a triathlon in San Diego in 1994, made well beyond their goal, and their eyes were opened to another issue facing people with physical disabilities. "We got Jimmy the van," remembers Babbitt, but after learning that insurance companies didn't cover any specialized equipment needed for people to engage in athletics, they broadened the scope of what they wanted to accomplish for people like their friend, a former Ivy League football player and elite endurance athlete for whom sport was an essential part of being alive. From there, says Babbitt, "Our goal was to make sure [that] if someone needed a piece of equipment or training or travel to stay in the game of life through sport, CAF would be there." e word — and the work — of CAF resonated worldwide, reaching a young man in Ghana born missing a tibia, a birth defect that would've normally doomed him to death or banishment according to his country's custom. Instead, determination and his mother's love drove that man, Emmanuel @ranchandcoast RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2025 43 >> PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION