Physical challenges can’t stop man from making his push for YMCA

MARYSVILLE — Push, push, push. About once per second, Quinton Morris gripped the top of his wheelchair’s push rims with gloved hands. He powerfully propelled himself forward, moving more than his own weight and that of his manual chair. Behind him, chained to the wheelchair frame, was a 15-pound wooden box. Inside the box were two 5-pound dumbbells.

Push, push, push. Morris went around and around the gym’s perimeter Wednesday at the YMCA’s Marysville Family Branch. He smiled but stayed focused as he passed people gathered along one wall to cheer his effort.

Morris was born with cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects movement and muscle coordination. He has other disabilities, including vision problems. None of that stopped the 25-year-old Stanwood man from raising money for Y programs through his Draggin’ Dumbbells for Disabilities fundraiser.

He kept up his strenuous effort for about an hour Wednesday. Even before he started, about $800 had been raised for adaptive fitness programs at the Marysville Y. And more was being raised with every lap.

“It’s hard. There’s no coasting. If I do that, my shoulders hurt,” said Scott Ballenger, an adaptive fitness trainer at the Marysville Y who works with Morris. Ballenger, 57, also uses a wheelchair. A quadriplegic, Ballenger was 15 when he broke his neck diving into shallow water.

Money from the fundraiser will support adaptive swimming, dance and fitness programs at the Marysville Y, Ballenger said. “Our adaptive fitness training is inclusive. We’re alongside all the other Y members,” he said.

Morris lives in a Stanwood group home and takes Dial-A-Ride Transportation to the Marysville Y about four times a week. A graduate of special education programs in Stanwood, he has a job at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and has volunteered at a nursing home.

His Draggin’ Dumbbells for Disabilities event coincided with this week’s launch of the YMCA of Snohomish County’s annual community support fund-raising campaign, said Colleen Temple, the organization’s director of marketing and communications.

“The Y is more than a gym. It’s a cause,” campaign chairwoman Kelly Shepherd said in a statement released by the Y on Monday. “As a charity, we’re dedicated to nurturing the potential of every child and teen, improving our community’s health and well-being, and giving back and providing support to our neighbors,” said Shepherd, principal of Everett’s Sequoia High School.

The Y’s 2015 campaign goal is $1,381,000. That goal includes fund-raising efforts by the YMCA Board of Trustees, five local YMCA branches (Everett, Marysville, Mill Creek, Monroe/Sky Valley and Mukilteo), the Stanwood-Camano YMCA initiative office, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate.

Mary Bredereck, executive director of the Marysville branch, said her facility’s goal is $180,000.

Last year, the YMCA of Snohomish County’s financial assistance program, supported by contributions to its annual campaign and United Way of Snohomish County, provided $1,895,420 in direct financial assistance to 9,925 people. In addition, nearly $3,985,232 was provided in YMCA program subsidies.

JJ Frank, the Marysville Y’s associate executive director, was watching Morris pull the weighted box, which had carpet on its bottom to keep from scratching the gym floor.

“What I’m most proud about Quinton, he is making a difference in his community,” Frank said.

Before starting Wednesday’s effort, Morris said the Y helps him stay positive. “I realize I do have friends who have disabilities, and also that I can help them,” he said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.