photo by: Min/Max Photography

The Lawrence Schools Foundation held a celebration at Maceli's in April to celebrate 40 years of service.

At the Lawrence Schools Foundation’s Community Education Breakfast fundraiser this year, the featured speaker will be a Free State High School alumnus who has amassed a following on social media for his content about his life after an accident that paralyzed him.

The annual Community Education Breakfast will be Friday, Sept. 26, at the Burge Union on the University of Kansas campus, 1565 Irving Hill Road; doors will open at 7:15 a.m., and the program will begin at 8 a.m.

In a social media post, the foundation said the guest speaker would be Jerod Nieder, a 2001 graduate of Free State High School. On Dec. 18, 2011, he injured his spinal cord in a diving accident. Now, he and his wife, Hanna Nieder — whom he married on Dec. 18, 2021, exactly a decade after his accident — use their social media platform, “Positively Paralyzed,” to educate and inform people about living with a disability.

The foundation said that the Nieders use their social media presence to share their passion for adventures and travel, as well as advocating for accessibility, inclusion and representation for people with disabilities. The couple have over 1.1 million views on YouTube.

photo by: Jerod Nieder

Jerod Nieder

The event costs $50 per person, and people can register online at the LSF website or by calling 785-330-1941.