The actions of five students from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies are making a difference in the lives of people with disabilities who play wheelchair basketball in Regina and area. The five were part of the KHS 497 Senior Seminar in Adapted Physical Activity course last fall. As part of the course, the students participated in a project called "Make a Difference" in which they were assigned to make a difference in the lives of others.

Through the assignment, the students (Sonya Soveran, Michelle Tessier, Catherine Shore, Chelsea Dinsmore and Shannon Len) developed a fundraising project with the purpose of raising enough money to purchase a sport wheelchair for the Paratroopers Wheelchair Basketball Club in Regina. They raised close to $2,500 through a steak night, silent auction and hosting a 10-team wheelchair basketball tournament.

The students will present a cheque from their project to the Paratroopers on March 4, 2009, at Wascana Rehabilitation Centre during a Paratroopers' game. The presentation will take place at 7 p.m. at the start of the game.

The money will enable the Paratroopers to purchase a new sport wheelchair which will display a chair patch that reads "Making a Difference, One Chair at a Time." A number of children and youth from Regina and surrounding area play on the Paratroopers' team including Chantelle Horel, who is a Kinesiology student at the University of Regina. Horel has just returned from Osaka, Japan, where she competed as a member of the Senior Canadian Women's National Team in the Osaka Cup Senior Women's National Team Wheelchair Basketball Tournament. Canada won the bronze medal in the competition. Horel will be taking part in the presentation to the Paratroopers.

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