Deep Roots Initiative
Our mission is to help young people experiencing limb loss bridge the gap between their "old life" and "new life" through financial and community support.
Program Branches
Advocacy: Providing information about limb cremation, memorialization, and community resources while acting as a liaison between families and hospitals.
Transition Grants: Providing micro-grants to cover the cost of cremation and memorial vessels and stones.
New Growth Fund: Providing grants to help families cover insurance deductibles and high-activity prosthetics often denied as "non-essential."
Your donation gives a young person who has experienced limb loss the option to cremate and memorialize a part of themselves and bridge the gap between their "old life" and "new life.”
It all started when…
Big Tree Fitness was founded in my garage back in the summer of 2015. I have always wanted to create a charitable non-profit branch of the Big Tree Fitness organization. Growing up was tough in my family’s household, and we needed the help in the form of charity on more then one occasion. Because of those experiences, giving back is very important to me. It is done with a feeling of gratitude and a sense of duty. Big Tree Fitness has been involved in non-profit charitable work by donating our time and fundraising abilities to various organizations since 2017, starting out with the Akron Rugby Club and then growing to include The Courage Foundation, Burpees for Vets Challenge, Isabella’s Closet, and many more.
For the past three years, Big Tree Fitness has held a fundraising and outdoor physical challenge event on the first weekend in March called the Big Tree Fitness Winter Challenge. I lead a group of gym members and friends of the gym on a team adventure hike into the woods and trails of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Each year’s hike is different from the previous and the adventure is often something many have never experienced before.
In the Fall of 2024 when I was formulating the next Big Tree Fitness Winter Challenge, I decided it was time to create the non-profit branch of Big Tree Fitness. In early 2025 we filed for our non-profit status and created Big Tree Fitness Charity Events.
On February 24th, 2026 our 18-year-old son was involved in a life-threatening car accident. He sustained 14 major injuries in the car wreck, with the majority being orthopedic injuries. Quinn has undergone 12 different surgeries involving 18 different surgical procedures. Unfortunately, one of his nerve graft surgeries failed. Quinn had to make a quality of life decision of whether to keep his leg or lose a portion of it below the knee. Quinn choose to have the amputation surgery, but we could tell there was something else needed.
Quinn and some friends were hanging out in his hospital room when Quinn brought up the idea of wanting to keep his big toe. Lohan chimed in saying we could take the bones out and make a necklace from them. Of course this idea was received with lots of teenage masculine enthusiasm. "That's a great idea!!" "Oh hell yeah!!" and numerous others. As you can imagine this idea was not going to work due to bio health issues and standards. Plus, Quinn’s mom was very much anti-big-toe-bone-necklace. The boys worked hard for the next three hours trying to convince Kim that this was the most amazing idea in existence or known to mankind. Still no dice.
This got me thinking about how I could make something close to this happen for Quinn. I knew he was using his dark humor to figure out a way to make a connection between his past life to his new life as an amputee. I researched the idea of having the amputated portion of Quinn’s leg cremated. This would allow him to keep his ashes as that bridge from his past to his new future. When I found out we could do this I asked Quinn if this would be a good substitute. Quinn instantly said yes and started to cry. It was the kind of cry that makes you realize how deeply he needed to make that connection, that bridge was. It was something more important than I could ever understand or even try to explain.
My research also found that this was not an uncommon request, but it often went unfulfilled due to the out-of-pocket cost. Through additional research we found out that there is no philanthropic support system for families to turn to for help or financial assistance. After witnessing Quinn's response I felt like I found an important mission for Big Tree Fitness Charity and am calling it the “Deep Roots Initiative.” If you noticed above, I wrote “his ashes." A part of Quinn is no longer with him. In a sense, a part of him has died. I can't imagine what that feels like for Quinn or any other kid that goes through something like this. I truly feel this is a way we can help and make an immediate difference in a child's road through recovery.