Meet the Graham & Courtney Rahal Foundation
How Graham and Courtney Rahal are helping veterans stand again and bringing cancer treatment closer for all.
Some of the best work in racing happens away from the track.
The Driven to Give Road Rally supports up to 30 charities this year, and the Graham & Courtney Rahal Foundation is one we are glad to help. Racing driver Graham Rahal started the foundation in 2009 to carry forward the charitable spirit of his former team owner, the late Paul Newman. Today he leads it alongside his wife, former NHRA Funny Car driver Courtney Force Rahal. For over a decade, they have turned a life in motorsport into support for causes that matter, raising awareness and funds through events like their annual Drivers Tournament the week of the Indianapolis 500.
The foundation’s giving runs through two partners doing remarkable work, and the two could not look more different at first glance.
Turns For Troops and SoldierStrong put advanced medical technology into the hands of those who served. SoldierStrong has donated exoskeleton suits that help injured and paralyzed veterans stand and walk again, with 35,000 veterans now able to access that rehabilitation. Its StrongMind program brings virtual reality therapy to VA hospitals treating post-traumatic stress. This is technology most hospitals could not afford on their own, placed where it changes lives. The work meets veterans where recovery is hardest and gives them a path forward.
Colorado State University’s One Cure program takes a different road to the same goal. Through the Flint Animal Cancer Center, One Cure treats cancer in pet dogs and cats with the same advanced therapies used in people. The field is called comparative oncology, and the idea is simple and powerful. The cancers that affect our dogs are often the same ones that affect us, so a treatment that works for a family’s pet can move medicine forward for everyone. What helps a dog beat cancer can help people beat it too. One effort, two kinds of patients, one cure.
We are proud to support the Graham & Courtney Rahal Foundation and the partners it stands behind. On October 24, every mile of the Driven to Give Road Rally goes a little further because of organizations like this one.
