History of Hands On™ Adventures
It’s hard to believe the network of Hands On™ Adventures partnerships with Believe In Tomorrow, which first got its name in 2001, formed because of one man, one race car, and a devotion to making life a little easier for critically ill children.
When David Amick called Believe In Tomorrow seven years ago to volunteer, his actions created a ripple of positive energy that traveled around the United States and into the lives of thousands of children and their families. David, a race car driver from Batesburg, S.C., was looking for a way to use his unique passion to help Believe In Tomorrow children. His idea: to bring sick children to major racing events and give them an incredible “hands on” experience that would take their minds off of their illnesses.
Working with Believe In Tomorrow, David's concept developed into an entirely new program area called Hands On™ Adventures, which helps ill children “Believe In Tomorrow” by providing a once–in–a–lifetime experience.
Past Adventures
Our mission continues to evolve everyday and with it, our Hands On™ Adventures change. What doesn’t change: the gratitude we have for every company who extends their services as part of our Hands On Adventures program. Read below to find out more about the past adventures Believe In Tomorrow children got their hands on. If you’re a group interested in starting a new Hands On™ Adventures, please contact our Hands On™ Adventures program associate at 410-744-1032.
Team Amick
David Amick helps a child
place his handprints on the
racecar.
The first year of the Hands On™ Adventures program, as David Amick raced throughout the country in the Motorola Cup Series, critically ill children from throughout the United States came out to each race as special guests of David and the Amick family. Before the race, the children would place their hands in primary paints and stick handprints on David’s race car. During the race they sometimes talked to David through special headsets that he provided to them. David’s car was covered in handprints and something very amazing began to happen. David’s car went faster and faster around each track.
That year David won the Motorola Cup Series and was named the Motorola Cup Rookie of the Year. As Bill Amick, David’s father, said, “there was something very powerful behind each of those small handprints.”
Since the inception of Team Amick, Believe In Tomorrow has developed a series of major national partnerships with the race car industry, the professional bull riding (PBR) industry, the Lightship Group and others, igniting the imaginations of thousands of children and leaving their handprints all across America.
In 2005, David joined the Believe In Tomorrow’s Board of Directors. David's most recent effort joined by his brother, Lyndon, sister, Angie, and parents, Bill and Linda, to complete a major Believe In Tomorrow respite facility in North Carolina has now come to fruition. The facility, the Believe In Tomorrow House at Pinnacle Falls, opened fall 2010.
Hands On™ Entertainment
On the set of Ladder 49.
The world of entertainment has the ability to pick people up and whisk them away to a land where there’s always something happening and anything is possible.
Not so long ago, Baltimore was abuzz with a Hollywood fever. Television and film crews swarmed Baltimore to produce shows like The Wire, Homicide, Ladder 49, and Hitch. Believe In Tomorrow seized the opportunity to invite critically ill children and their families on set to meet the actors and actresses, people like John Travolta (Ladder 49) and Will Smith (Hitch).
Children were also invited to other Hands On™ Entertainment Adventures, including: juggling shows (the Gizmo Guys), live Barney shows, and Thomas the Tank days at railroad stations across the nation. Through theatrical entertainment, Believe In Tomorrow Children found escape from their periodic hospital visits with entertainment to look forward to and an evening that would stay in their minds long after the lights dimmed and the curtains closed.