Kenzie's Helping Hands

Meet Valentina, Notre Dame e-NABLE’s newest device recipient! I first met Valentina at SheLift in 2019, and as the Freshman Representative for our e-NABLE club, I thought she would be a perfect fit for our program. Over this semester, our student volunteers will design and fabricate a free prosthesis for her. To start this process, I met up with Valentina and her mom to discuss what she wants in a prosthesis. Currently, she wants to improve on riding her bicycle and requested we decorate her new device with butterflies. 

I got the chance to share e-NABLE with Youth Resources early Friday morning! Everyone was so welcoming, and I am so thankful for the opportunity!

My Lucky Fin friends are always wearing T-shirts captioned, "I have a limb difference. What's your superpower?" and that's the truth! Superhero arms are my new favorite.

I've spent some time creating a pink and purple, Sleeping Beauty themed Phoenix V2 hand. Check it out!

My brother, Rylan, and I are working with Ivy Tech on some awesome projects! Here’s some pictures from yesterday.

I'm so fortunate to have been featured in this Evansville Courier and Press article: Mount Vernon soccer standout Kenzie Paul making a difference for others like her . Please take a chance to read it; the writeup was awesome!

Jessica Wimsatt from WEHT interviewed me yesterday about my e-NABLE and Lucky Fin Project endeavors. The story aired last night and was afterwards posted to their website, Facebook, and Twitter. The Facebook post alone has 4.5k views already! I’m so thankful for the awareness!! Check out the article here:  Mount Vernon soccer star making an impact for those with limb differences

Guess what? Kenzie’s Helping Hands is officially registered as an e-NABLE community chapter!! This is such an exciting privilege! Every amputee deserves the option of a prosthetic, and I’m so proud to say Kenzie’s Helping Hands can make this deserved opportunity a reality.

Coming home from a Lucky Fin Weekend, I met up with Nolan in Anderson, Indiana. Nolan is a super cool kid who raises money with an annual 3v3 soccer tournament in Connersville, Indiana for  Limbitless Solutions . This organization is located at University of Central Florida and partnered with  e-NABLE . He saw my  interview with 44 News  awhile back whereupon he decided to get in touch with me. When I finally met him on Sunday he surprised me with a tournament T-shirt AND a check for my e-NABLE endeavors with the money he raised from the “Speed Kick” event he held at his tournament! I’m so thankful for Nolan’s generous support! Please check him out  here .

I’m so lucky that writer, Corey Woolsey, reached out to me about my newly printed e-NABLE Phoenix V2 trial hand. He interviewed me last week and got me a cool spot to debut in our local paper this week. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to spread awareness! Just in the past few days, I’ve had many people reach out to me and ask how they could help. These things really mean the world to me! Here is a link to the article:  Paul uses technology for a cause

I’ve had the awesome opportunity to discuss my projects with both Apex and QualEx Engineering firms in Mount Vernon. I loved interacting with the engineering professionals, as they all gave me really great ideas for the future. They were very appreciative of my work and I’m very thankful to have been able to share it with them!

Yesterday, I was awarded with the privilege of talking to the University of Southern Indiana high school girls STEM camp participants about what I do with 3D printing. I introduced them to the journey that led me to e-NABLE and how I began to get involved with their community. It was so awesome to see so many of my peers respond with such positivity towards my efforts! Here’s a link to USI’s Facebook post regarding the evening:  Southwest Indiana STEM Resource Center

Yesterday I made a GoFundMe account in hopes of collecting a little funding from anyone who wanted to give a helping hand. As of now, we are at $570.00. Amazing! I’m so thankful for all of these supporters. I never knew Kenzie’s Helping Hands had such a fan base, although, I am thrilled to have discovered this. The goal is set for $1000.00 because GoFundMe requires a set amount, but in actuality there isn’t a set amount I need to raise. My main intention with the funding is to cover filament costs for 3D printing– as we need to print test hands of every kind– but I’m also looking into finding another outlet to promote more awareness. This time, to a larger audience. Quite honestly, I’m not sure how to initiate this course of action, but I’m going to give it my best effort! If you want to monitor it’s progress, here is the  GoFundMe link

Super stoked! Got approved to fit and print the Phoenix V2 device for clients!

I started a Facebook Page for my e-NABLE chapter. Here it is:  Kenzie’s Helping Hands Enjoy!

Today, JoJo Gentry from 44 News wrote a followup article on the progress Kenzie’s Helping Hands has made. Once again, I’m thrilled at the opportunity of addressing a larger scale audience on the matters of the limb different community. My ultimate goal is to be an influencer towards the ubiquitous issues that plague our community. Examples of such concerns are how the world views the term “disability” and the connotations it possesses that impinge our image, the lack of awareness surrounding the condition of limb loss itself, the deprivation of information given to new parents of limb different children at hospitals, the insufficiency of disability representation in the entertainment and fashion industries, and the inaccessibility of technologically advanced, cost effective prosthetics. That’s my dream, but anyway, here’s the link:  Mount Vernon Soccer Star Gets Approval to Make Hands for Limb Different People

I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to spread limb difference awareness on such a grand platform! JoJo Gentry from 44 News interviewed me about my completion of the e-NABLE Phoenix V2 3D printed hand after viewing my initial Tweet regarding the device. The interview really put in perspective for me just how many people can be reached through the media and how the number of views impacted my continued campaign for limb difference awareness. Every effort made directly promotes the familiarization of our condition. Here’s the link to the interview:  Mt. Vernon Soccer Star with Limb Difference Builds 3D Hand I received so many notes following the interview’s airing, and I’m so grateful for all of the support!

Thanks for joining me! Today I submitted my application for an e-NABLE chapter titled “Kenzie’s Helping Hands”