{"id":5849,"date":"2023-05-03T13:52:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T17:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=5849"},"modified":"2023-12-22T16:57:24","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T21:57:24","slug":"just-hands-foundation-launches-2023-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/03\/just-hands-foundation-launches-2023-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Hands Foundation Launches 2023 program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Providing the \u201cthrill of being equal\u201d through hand control-only driving<\/em><\/p>\n

(3 May 2023) Sharon, CT- The Just Hands Foundation is a 501c3 that is dedicated to normalizing the use of hand controls in performance driving.\u00a0 Founded by Torsten Gross in 2021, Just Hands’ mission is to unlock the experience of performance driving for those that are only able to use their hands to operate a car.<\/p>\n

Just Hands will participate in nearly 50 track day events in 2023, providing once in a lifetime opportunities for handicapped drivers to experience the thrill of using hand controls to drive on track.\u00a0 Gross is a C6 quadriplegic who has focused his extreme motivation and drive into a relentless pursuit of achievements that have included completing 12 marathons in 12 months, sky diving, and becoming the only qualified licensed\u00a0quadriplegic Rescue SCUBA diver.<\/p>\n

When an anniversary gift of a track day at Lime Rock Park from his wife saw Gross take to the track with a car that was equipped with hand controls to allow the wheelchair bound to drive, the day at the track proved to be transformative, as he moved his full focus to giving more drivers the opportunity to have that same experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the moment for me\u2014not just the thrill of driving a car at the edge of its capability, but more so the realization that this was the only situation where my body’s\u00a0limitations were no longer having an effect on the outcome,\u201d said Gross. \u201cUsing the hand controls, I can do everything that any other driver is capable of doing. The car doesn’t know the difference, and neither does the guy who I\u2019m racing against.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having built a well-established record of adventure accomplishments, Gross always felt as though his physical limitations always factored into those activities\u2014but with hand controls, everything was equal again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had done a lot of exciting and thrilling things before I got into a car at Lime Rock, but this was the first time that I wasn\u2019t just competing with disabled competitors,\u201d said Gross. \u201cI was just another car out there trying to find the perfect lap. It is hard to describe the feeling that it gave me. Not just the driving the car, but just the knowledge that with these tools, I can go up against anyone on equal ground. And that was what inspired me to work to get as many people as possible to also have that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

With nearly 50 track days planned for 2023, the Just Hands Foundation continues to grow its list of graduates, providing the opportunity for handicapped drivers to experience high performance driving in a safe environment. This experience includes coaching, the use of hand controls and a car, and the track time access.<\/p>\n

Providing ride and drive experiences to drivers for free is a key component to sharing that experience, something that keeps Gross busy, not only managing the logistics of the track day events, but also working to develop the sponsorship, partnership, and donation support to be able to provide these experiences for free.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe operate like a ride and drive experience, but we have a very specific kind of participant,\u201d said Gross. \u201cThe feedback that we get from drivers having that first experience is amazing. I just got a text from someone saying how incredible it was to experience \u2018the thrill of being equal again.\u2019 And we want as many people as we can to have that same experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the on-the-track initiatives, Just Hands Foundation is also working to build awareness of the options that hand controls can create for drivers, and using the successful case studies to grow the footprint for the Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working on a lot of different initiatives, all around the country and some in Germany as well,\u201d said Gross. \u201cOne big goal of our fundraising is to help fund the building of more hand-controlled cars for clubs to use. Having these cars be available for disabled drivers is the first step. Even if the driver doesn’t go on to do more track days, or go into competition like I am doing, it is a once in a lifetime experience that can have a huge effect on someone and inspire them to take on whatever challenge they decide. I feel really fortunate to be able to be part of giving people that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

To support Just Hands Foundation, visit https:\/\/justhands.org<\/a> to make a donation, and you can follow Just Hands Instagram<\/a> and Just Hands Facebook<\/a>for updates along the way as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Providing the \u201cthrill of being equal\u201d through hand control-only driving (3 May 2023) Sharon, CT- The Just Hands Foundation is a 501c3 that is dedicated to [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,9,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-feature","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5851,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5849\/revisions\/5851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}