Chelsie Hill
Chelsie Hill from the television series “Push Girls” and Ali Stroker, who starred in “Glee” and “The Glee Project,” will lead a line-up of celebrities for the “Just Roll With It” wheelchair dance performance by the Walk & Roll Foundation at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20, at Fresno State’s Satellite Student Union.
The free, public evening of tales of adversity and perseverance is presented by Fresno State’s USU Productions and co-sponsored by Services for Students with Disabilities, Career Services and the Drug and Alcohol Awareness and Wellness Guide (DAWWG) Program.
Other special guest speakers include Kaela Lebow, a college student from Salinas who has learned to live with the challenges of cerebral palsy, and Arthur Renowitzky, executive director of the Life Goes On Foundation, which he founded in 2007 after he was shot outside a San Francisco night club by anunknown assailant and paralyzed from the chest down.
Ali Stroker
Lebow plans to enroll in Fresno State next fall to major in Mass Communication and Journalism with a minor in Psychology and aspires to pursue a career as a motivational speaker. She loves riding horses, writing and traveling nationwide playing sports such as power soccer. (See bios link below).
The Walk & Roll Foundation works to help those facing obstacles, educate communities and support spinal cord injury survivors in achieving their dreams. Its motivational speakers and teamstravel throughout the United States sharing stories and performing with the wheelchair dance team to educate and inspire individuals and communities.
Kaela LeBow
Hill, Stroker, Lebow and Renowitzky will talk about their personal experiences related to spinal cord injuries and how they have fulfilled their dreams, followed by a performance of the wheelchair dance team.
“It is important for Fresno State students to witness the testimonials and performances by the Walk & Roll Foundation to better understand how precious life is and to learn the importance of self-motivation and perseverance through adversity,” said Marine Vardanyan, a junior public health major from Yerevan, Armenia who is coordinator of USU Productions’ Point Committee.
“I think we can all relate to the speakers on some level, but it is also very refreshing to see the positive and inspirational way these young speakers have approached their situation.”
Arthur Renowitzky
Established by Hill and her father, the Walk & Roll Foundation educates teens and adults about how to make responsible choices, especially regarding driving under the influence of alcohol or other substances, or while distracted.
Hill was paralyzed in an alcohol-related auto accident in 2010 in Pacific Grove. Since then, she and her father have spoken to more than 20,000 high school students and their parents about making better choices in their lives. The foundation also has long-term plans to establish a specialized therapy clinic in Northern California for those recovering from spinal cord trauma.
For more information, contact Shawna Blair, program and events coordinator, at 559.278.2741 or shblair@csufresno.edu.
(University Communications news assistant Ashlie Day contributed to this report).
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