LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Cindy Donald is partnering with manager Fredi Gonzalez and the Braves once again to help raise money for her Dreams of Recovery Foundation, which helps defray the costs of therapy and therapy equipment for victims of spinal cord and brain injuries.
In a program called Walks for Recovery, they are asking for individuals, groups and corporations to contribute 10 cents or more for every walk drawn by a Braves batter during the 2014 season. (The Braves drew 542 walks in 2013.) The goal is to raise at least $1,000 total for every walk, which would allow the foundation to assist the more than 50 people on its waiting list.
“This is something special from my heart,” said Gonzalez, who has worked along with former manager Bobby Cox and Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell to help Donald for several years, since before she began her foundation.
They lived in the same Marietta neighborhood as Donald and got to know her after hearing the story of how she was left paralyzed from the neck down in 2005 at age 21, after her father accidentally hit her with his car while she was sunbathing in their driveway.
The Braves formally partnered with the foundation in May 2013 and are making it full-season arrangement this year.
“We are so blessed that Fredi and the Braves have made a second season possible,” said Donald during a news conference with Gonzalez on Thursday at Champion Stadium.
For information on “Cindy’s Walks for Recovery,” go to www.walksforrecovery.org or call 770-675-6565.
