UnitedHealthcare Donates to ‘Swim With Mike’ To Help Student Athletes From Hawaii
HONOLULU – UnitedHealthcare has pledged $4,000 to the Hawaii “Swim With Mike” fundraiser that benefits the Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund. This is in addition to the nearly $77,000 donated to the national scholarship fund.
Since 1981, the “Swim With Mike” swim-a-thon fundraiser has raised $13.2 million for 142 Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarships. The fund is the only one of its kind allowing disabled athletes to pursue both undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Southern California and, beginning 11 years ago, at other college campuses. This included the University of Hawaii, where a satellite “Swim With Mike” started in 2003. (www.swimwithmike.org)
This year, participants in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim will raise funds through individual sponsorship and donations to the scholarship fund.
The Roughwater Swim will take place:
WHEN: September 3, 2012 at 9 a.m.
WHERE: From Kaimana Beach to Duke Kahanamoku Beach
For the 2012-2013 school year, the University of Southern California has awarded $803,280 to 61 disabled athletes. Of the 61, two have ties to Hawaii. The scholarship provides tuition and financial assistance toward housing and books.
“True to our mission of making a difference in the communities we serve, we are proud to be a contributor to the Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund,” said David Heywood, vice president of UnitedHealthcare in Hawaii. “Our local students from Hawaii have overcome life’s challenges, and are an inspiration to us. We congratulate them as they pursue their dreams of a university education.”
2012-2013 Swim With Mike Hawaii Recipients & Alumni
Name: Fulutusi “Tusi” Mailo, Kahuku, HI
Accident/Illness: Beach accident, quadriplegic
Sport: Football
School/Major/Year: BYU Hawaii – Mathematics/Senior
Tusi was an all-state linebacker on the Kahuku High School football team and went on to play football at the collegiate level. During a visit with his brother Faasea, a former Kahuku and USC football star, he broke his neck on a sand bar while body surfing, resulting in a C-6 spinal cord injury. He went through nine months of hospitalization followed by intense physical therapy, and is finishing up his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at BYU – Hawaii. Tusi hopes to teach mathematics at the high school level after graduation.
Name: Ann Yoshida, Mililani, HI
Accident/Illness: Car accident, paraplegic
Sport: Gymnastics, swimming, hiking, surfing, running, golf
School/Major/Year: Utah State Graduate School – Masters Program in Rehabilitation Counseling/Speech Pathology
Ann, a graduate from Mililani High School, completed a B.S. in Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of Hawaii, and began graduate studies at Utah State in Rehabilitation Counseling/Speech Pathology in the Fall of 2008. After graduation, Ann plans on moving back to Hawaii to pursue her mission of helping others overcome adversity from within, through counseling and speech pathology.
Name: Joseph Broc, Haleiwa, HI
Accident/Illness: Spina Bifida - myelomeningocele, below-the-knee paralysis, uses wheelchair
Sport: Outrigger canoe paddling
School/Major/Year: Hawaii Pacific University – Communications (‘12)
Joe was born with spina bifida- myelomeningocele, resulting in below-the-knee paralysis. He has concentrated on outrigger canoe paddling, competing with able-bodied paddlers on Manu O’Ke Kai. Joe competed on the varsity team at Kahuku High School, and in the World Sprints Outrigger Canoe Championships in the Summer of 2008. He paddles with Pure Light Racing, a team from Hawaii made up entirely of physically challenged athletes. Joe plans to pursue a career in public relations and motivational speaking; he will attend this year’s Roughwater Swim.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare serves approximately 21,000 aged, blind and disabled Medicaid members in the State of Hawaii’s QExA (QUEST Expanded Access) program and also serves 29,000 Medicare members in Hawaii. UnitedHealthcare also provides health care benefits and services to 7,000 employer group plan participants. The company employs about 200 people on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island.
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 650,000 physicians and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.