Pictured: Front L-R–Hank Poore, Garrett Guthrie, Rear L-R–Kathy Poore, Ashley Ferry, Garrett’s parents & brother.
Hank Poore Foundation Awards Grant To Bibb County Resident
Disabled Youth Receives a Wheelchair Grant
Reported by Mike Hobson
September 5, 2025
Garrett Guthrie received the gift of an athletic wheelchair that will enable him to participate in wheelchair basketball summer camps at the Lakeshore Foundation. Garrett is a sophomore at Bibb County High School. His mother, Jennifer Guthrie is a pharmacist at Bibb Medical Center. The grant was presented in a ceremony at Bibb Wellness Center.
Ashley Belcher Ferry, Executive Director of the Hank Poore Foundation said her organization makes gifts of recreational equipment, and funds special events or experiences for disabled youth across the State of Alabama. Garrett is a victim of Cerebral Palsy.
The Hank Poore Foundation (HPF), founded by a small group of family and friends in 2020, was established with the goal of providing community, connection, and support to people with disabilities. Inspired by Hank Poore, a Tuscaloosa native with cerebral palsy, HPF was born out of a desire to provide others with the opportunities and experiences that Hank has had, and is built on the ideals of inclusion, engagement, education, and unity. These ideals have played significant roles in Hank’s life, both as he has lived them out and as others have embodied them. Hank is lucky to be a part of a community, both near and far, that has embraced his disability, and to have had the opportunity to engage in adaptive athletics, summer camps, long term employment and a number of other activities and experiences that are not always available to people with disabilities. Hank, and all other staff and volunteers at HPF, are committed to making these experiences and communities widely available to people with disabilities by providing forums for connection and empowerment, and by working to reach and support families in need of the resources, community, and opportunity that enable individuals with disabilities to live life to the fullest. In so doing, HPF hopes to model and bring forth the sort of inclusivity, compassion, and limitless possibility that changes lives.
For more information on the Hank Poore Foundation visit their website at the following link: https://hankpoorefoundation.org/
