Long Beach : Fund Drive Builds for Wheelchair Athletes

Julie Alban says she has almost reached her goal of raising $10,000 in prize money for the winners of the wheelchair division of the Long Beach Marathon.

“Wheelchair athletes are a model of courage and determination in the disabled community and the able-bodied world,” Alban wrote in a letter she recently sent to 600 potential donors. “I would very much like to see greater equality in these races for all of the athletes.”

Alban, 23, has been in a wheelchair since last year when she was shot in the back by her then-boyfriend, Bradley Ackerman, the stepson of Long Beach Press Telegram Chairman Daniel H. Ridder. Ackerman, 24, was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for the shooting.

Alban said she decided to raise money for the wheelchair athletes after realizing that although organizers of the May 7 marathon had set aside $30,000 to be divided among the event’s 10 able-bodied winners, no funds had been earmarked for the winners in the wheelchair division.

As of early this week, she said, she had already received about $8,000 in contributions. Donations, she said, may be sent to 1040 Elm Ave., Suite 100, Long Beach, Calif. 90813.