At the Foreseeable Future Foundation, it is very exciting when we get a chance to give back to the community, especially when it is someone like Markeith Price. Not only is Markeith an incredible athlete, he devotes a lot of his time bettering the world around him.
Markeith Price is a Paralympic athlete that recently competed in the Desert Challenge Games in Arizona back in May of 2019. The Desert Challenge Games are a multi-day competition for those who have a disability.
Markeith was born with optic nerve atrophy, which is a hereditary disease that causes the optic nerve to not fully develop. Though he does have some vision, Markeith is visually impaired having vision of 20/600 and 420/600. Growing up blind was a challenge, but it didn’t keep Markeith from playing sports.
“Sports has always been a thing, I’ve always been confident with sports. It was something for myself that I knew I could do…it’s something that no one could really stop me because I feel like I was born for that.”
Markeith has had his hands in many sports, some he admits he has had a better time with than most. Markeith has done martial arts, soccer, basketball, and eventually fell into running track. His father took the opportunity to enroll Markeith in both programs for the blind and the sighted giving Markeith an edge on the playing field.
“My dad put me in T-ball when I was three or four, right after I got diagnosed… he did that because he thought that I wasn’t going to be able to play sports but he always says have faith and see where it goes from there.”
Markeith is still involved in some of the programs that helped him become the athlete he is today as well as running some programs of his own. One program he is a part of is the I See You Foundation, which gives out two scholarships a year to those in the blind community who wish to further their education. For the past seven years, Markeith has also been donating to Maryland School for the Blind, and his giving doesn’t stop there.
Markeith has also donated his time and wisdom for the past four years being a part of a mentorship program for blind athletes; a program called Classroom Champions. Markeith mentors alongside other athletes from many different mediums, like the NFL, Paralympics, and other professional athletes.
When he isn’t being a mentor or helping charities, Markeith is going to school to get his master’s in information systems while participating in athletic events all over the world. He just recently returned from a world championship in Dubai where he placed 5th in the 400 meter and 7th in the long jump. He has also had success at the Paralympic events in London 2012 and Rio 2016.