Rajah News - April

Meet Alec Cabacungan:
Alec’s the face of Shriners Hospitals for
Children TV commercials, who has captured hearts
across America with his famous commercials.
Alec is age 13 and is from Oak Park, Ill., a suburb
of Chicago.
Alec was on “Fox and Friends” recently, where
he said that the hospital has “a special place in
his heart,” recalling his countless surgeries and
physical therapy there.
Alec suffers from Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a
brittle bone disease, and he has broken more than
60 bones in his lifetime. But that hasn’t stopped
him from achieving his dreams of playing adaptive
sports. He participates in the city of Chicago’s
adaptive sports program, where he is a starting guard
on the junior prep team of the Chicago Skyhawks.
“Because of Shriners, I can play wheelchair
basketball, I can play wheelchair softball,” he said.
Alec’s wheelchair basketball coach, Dan Ferreira, Adaptive Sport Program and Event
Facilitator for the Chicago Part District, said “for people with disabilities, the opportunity to
participate in sports can be healing and empowering. It can clearly change a person’s life.”
Shriners also gave Alec the amazing opportunity to interview NFL draftees back in April,
when several NFL prospects visited Shriners Hospitals for Children – Chicago. It was a dream
come true for him because he hopes to be involved in sports as an adult. He said that “when I
grow up I want to go to the Olympics. I want to be a Paralympian for basketball. I also want to be
an ESPN analyst and sports anchor in the Los Angeles area.”
His parents are strong advocates, who have encouraged young Alec to be both independent
and well-informed. They hope that his sports ambitions will be as successful as the commercials
he hosts. The spots are part of a Direct Response Television Initiative campaign that is designed to
attract donors who will give monthly. The campaign is not only
creating a sustainable funding source, it is increasing awareness
of the Shriners Hospitals for Children and the incredible services
they provide.
CEREMONIALS
Mini-Ceremonials shall be at the discretion
of the Potentate. To schedule, please contact
the recorder at
610-916-9000
2017 CIRCUS DADDIES
The 2017 Circus was held after
the deadline for printing this issue.
In order to get as many Circus
Daddies acknowledged as possible,
we held the list until
the June/July issue.
“With my commercials, I love helping Shriners because
they’ve helped me so much,” Alec said. “It’s the least I could do.”
MOTOR CORPS
Illustrious Sir Dave Evans
Greetings Nobles,
The Motor Corps had a very successful Horse Race event
with the Rajah Shrine Oriental Band. A very special thanks to
all the Nobles and their Ladies from both units for making the
evening run so smoothly.
A great time was had by all, and the ponies have been
put up for the winter after a hard day of racing. Again, a big
thanks to John Grumbein and Bill Trusty, and their respective
units. A wonderful example of units working together for the
betterment of all!
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