On November 15, the College of Health and Human Services will host the 2019 Health and Human Services Hero Awards to recognize the unsung heroes in our community whose actions, thoughts and words have had a transformative impact in our region. We will highlight the ten honorees in our Heroes Blog Series.
Name: Randy Coffman
Occupation: Owner and founder, Central California Adaptive Sports Center
Nominated by: Department of Recreation Administration
For 31 years, Randy Coffman dedicated his life to the national park service as a ranger. From being stationed at iconic national parks such as the Grand Canyon and the majestic Sequoias to leading an American-Norwegian climbing excursion through the mountainous Himalayan region of Pakistan, Coffman has always found a way to immerse himself in the great outdoors.
Although he retired in 2004 as the National Chief of Search and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, Coffman’s mission of helping others enjoy mother nature’s bounty led him to his next adventure in adaptive sports.
In 2013, he and his wife, Lisa created and developed the Central California Adaptive Sports Center, located in and around Shaver Lake. The center has been Coffman’s pride and joy for the last five years, allowing him to reach heights he never thought possible.
The center provides summer and winter outdoor adventure activities to persons with cognitive and physical disabilities, including the visually impaired, amputees, and individuals with traumatic brain injuries, among others.
The center currently provides 750 programs to veterans and civilians of all ages. Some activities provided are kayaking, mountain biking, and fly fishing, to name a few. The center has been the recipient of numerous grants to provide services to individuals with paralysis to free programming to veterans with disabilities.
“Randy is a great example of a community member seeing a need, and with passion and dedication, addressing that need. He is a true inspiration.” – Dr. Sam Lankford, Department of Recreation Administration
The 2019 Health and Human Services Hero Awards, which celebrates heroes from each of the seven departments, as well as centers and institutes within our college, will be held on November 15, 2019 at Fresno State. For more information on the event, contact Beth Wilkinson at 559.278.3603 or bwilkinson@csufresno.edu.
Fresno State College of Health and Human Services 