Since 2001, Diveheart, a Downers Grove-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization has been helping many participants with mental and physical disabilities find self-esteem and confidence through scuba therapy. One of the groups that the nonprofit is proud to help is veterans who are looking to live their lives as normal as possible.
It takes a special and beneficial connection to find someone who supports Diveheart’s mission with its veterans. Thanks to a mutual colleague, Diveheart founder Jim Elliott met Palatine children’s writer Echo Morgan, author of the book “Scuba Matt’s Underwater Adventure” last year. Echo Morgan’s book, which introduces readers ages 3 to 10 to a magical underwater world filled with sea creatures and marine life, honors the memory of her late son U.S. Army veteran Matt Morgan who died in Okinawa, Japan in 2020.
With such positive response to the book, Echo Morgan wanted to use some of the proceeds to create a scuba training grant to further honor her son, who was also an avid scuba diver and master instructor.
When she wanted to donate some of the book’s proceeds to Diveheart’s Military Wounded (DMW) program, Elliott graciously accepted. The DMW program is designed to invigorate the spirit and the imagination of veterans with disabilities by using adaptive scuba and zero gravity as a tool to build confidence, independence and a sense of camaraderie, offering a sense of wonder and freedom through the adventure paradigm and empowering individuals to embrace the “can do” spirit while operating as a cohesive unit.
“We are honored to be selected as the charity of choice for Echo’s book memorial for her son,” Elliott said. “Those proceeds will give some of our veterans an opportunity to experience the benefits of scuba therapy and help them make friendships with like-minded people who are also experiencing similar situations. We are presenting Echo through book signing events to introduce her to our Diveheart family and friends.”
Echo recalled how her friend mentioned Diveheart to her and how impressed she was with its work. Finding the nonprofit was the perfect match.
“I truly think and hope that working with Diveheart would make my son Matt so proud to know that his love and passion for diving and the military continues in his name,” she said. “We are a family of avid scuba divers and proud military supporters and I think working with Diveheart is a perfect fit for giving back—in my son’s name—to both of those communities.”