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Abilities Inc. honors two kind friends
By JON WILSON
Published June 19, 2005
ST. PETERSBURG - A St. Petersburg lawyer and his high school football coach were honored Thursday for spearheading separate projects to make life easier for two disabled people.
Clearwater-based Abilities Inc. presented Barry Wax and Gerry Ramsberger with its annual Henry Viscardi Award.
Wax organized a fundraiser to buy a motorized chair and a specially designed vehicle for Boca Ciega High School classmate Pam Kane Chamberlain, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a fall. The effort raised about $44,000.
"We were friends since grade school, and we're still good friends," Wax said. The two graduated in 1963.
Wax's football coach at Boca Ciega, Ramsberger, a longtime educator who now runs the Devil Rays press box at Tropicana Field, also launched a fundraiser.
Ramsberger raised about $50,000 to buy a motorized chair and customized van for Bill Werts, who supervises the dining room at Tropicana. Werts developed multiple sclerosis, a nervous system ailment, 12 years ago.
Henry Viscardi founded Abilities Inc. of Florida, which came to Pinellas in the 1950s. Viscardi was a New York resident who was born with deformed legs. He died last year at age 91.
Abilities Inc. helps people cope with a variety of disabilities, including epilepsy, quadriplegia, mental health problems, spinal cord and brain injuries, and heart conditions. Among other projects, it helps disabled people find jobs.
This is the second year the organization has presented the Viscardi award.
[Last modified June 19, 2005, 00:38:17]
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