The NEVER STOP Foundation is dedicated to using athletics as a tool to encourage all youth, to have the chance to achieve their full potential. The foundation provides programs and learning opportunities that encourage its participants to think creatively about their lives while giving them the practical skills to turn their hopes and dreams into reality.
HISTORY
Jason P. Lester founded The NEVER STOP Foundation in 2007. A successful athlete, artist, and activist, Jason knows first hand what it is like to be faced with countless challenges as a child, both mentally and physically (see bio). Now an adult and Ironman Triathlete, Jason uses the forum of sports to inspire and motivate others, worldwide. His vision is to use his involvement in sports and passion for racing, as a platform in which to share his message of hope with all youth.
PHILOSOPHY
The NEVER STOP Foundation uses athletics to teach its young participants how to think creatively about their lives - then gives them the practical skills to turn their dreams into reality. A variety of sports programs make the child the central focus with adult athletes, teachers, and counselors acting as supporters. Mid-level programs emphasize collaboration between adult and child and later programs challenge the young people to stand on their own while staying connected to the world around them. The goal is to help those in their formative years find their own true voice, help them build their confidence, improve their communication skills and learn the values of discipline, trust, compassion, self-reliance, and respect.
GOALS
The NEVER STOP Foundation has a three-year plan from 2008 to 2010 in which to achieve several goals. In order to share Jason’s encouraging message with both young and old alike, the foundation created several avenues in which to tell his story. They include a 90-minute documentary, “A Painted Race,” recording Jason’s journey to the Hawaiian Ultraman (two back-to-back Ironman races conducted over three days) that is currently being filmed. Also in production is a full-length feature film, “Chasing Me,” that will chronicle his incredible life story. As well, Jason’s first book, “Chosen – The testimony and story of Ironman Triathlete, Jason P. Lester,” is in progress. Proceeds from these projects, as well as through several fundraisers, will ultimately go to build the Inspire Youth Center in Arizona by 2011.
NEVER STOP FILM, LLC is producing the new documentary “A Painted Race”, based on the true life story of Ironman athlete Jason Lester. “A Painted Race” is an inspirational story of purpose, determination and never giving up, in the style of such successful documentaries as “Hoop Dreams”, “Touching the Void”, and “Murderball”. Never Stop Film, LLC is currently seeking funding for the development, production and marketing of the motion picture. Our goal is to create a film that will be commercially exploitable to a mass audience through theatrical exhibition, pay-per view, cable broadcast, and DVD/home-video.
1.1 Phase of Project
Fundraising and Production
1.2 Premise
“A Painted Race” is an inspirational 90-minute documentary that will tell the inspiring story of successful artist and Ironman athlete Jason Lester. This is the amazing account of an intriguing young man who persists through the death of his father, loss of his brother and a debilitating accident. Through the course of his life, Jason is haunted by the same three elements that form the course of a triathlon -- a near-death swimming incident, a life-changing bicycle accident, and an obsessive need to escape through running. These three defining moments ultimately lead Jason Lester to face his past in the ultimate test of the three --- by becoming and Ironman triathlete.
After moving to Hawaii to learn from some of the world’s premiere trainers, Jason becomes enamored by the island philosophy of commitment and tenacity. Driven by his ever-increasing passion and the thrill of pushing his body and mind to the ultimate limit, Jason trains to become the only challenged athlete to compete and finish the Hawaiian Ultraman (two back-to-back Ironmans), a feat that no challenged athlete has ever accomplished. “A Painted Race” will document Jason’s journey from Ironman to Ultraman; we will reveal the physical, mental and spiritual preparation and the toll this plays on his body and mind. Our goal is to discover and understand what pushes people to such levels and how succeeding as an Ironman in the course of life can help one succeed as an Ironman on the world’s foremost triathlon course. Over the next year we plan to answer these questions and uncover new ones that together create the tension and build the excitement revolving around world-class competition, and that unveils the emotions that come from delving into an anything-but-ordinary past.
