Another approach

Rather than meeting vendors staying put and letting participants come to me may be an effective method. The local hospital offers a health and wellness fair featuring the stroke disability. It is important to get to know the staff of the hospital in order to consider this a useable location. This is similar to what I just did. I volunteered for a large event at a non-profit- Race Against Racism through the YWCA. I met a resident and she will be a good start in my plight to reach out to the caring community about social issue of importance. This will be an experiment on my part.

Inclusion in a program

There's a good program for teens who help them focus on future vocational goals then introduce fitness. The program is down three steps. I have been actively trying to facilitate a move to another building. However, that is difficult due to the limited budget and layout of the building. The land lord is unwilling to make changes or purchase a platform lift. I considered some fundraising options regarding awareness programs in churches, service auctions, and raffles. Just recently I thought about trying a third angel. Rather than adapt the current location or travel to a different one ii would be possible to have the program for people with disabilities in a different location in which they would conduct the vocational aspect and limited fitness for a limited time. This way people can see the worth of the program and benefits to moving. There's always many other angels to try when the first and even second do not work successfully.

Continued outreach

I saw a movie in which a 90 year old Holocaust victim goes to schools to spread the message. Some people don't even believe the atrocity happened. Veterans Cafes give people the chance to hear about wartime stories that veterans have gone through, there is only 7% of that population left. The next generation needs to pick up the baton. I conduct disability programs for the same cause there are always more people who are afraid of and discriminate against people with disabilities. Continued outreach is important because if you don't know your past, it can come back again. Often people want to live their own lives and have their beliefs tho they may be false. That is not good because people must learn about situations in society and not just from text books.

Connecting and growing

There's a Lancaster in which teens combine vocational skills with fitness. I'm looking forward to my work with them but right now they need to move out of a basement to an accessible location so they could be inclusive. Once they begin to have people with disabilities they can be eligible for grants and I can really work in my field and get our veterans from Team River Runner involved. The kids would learn a lot from them. I never considered weight lifting as being a non-traditional therapy. Sure it increases one's physical strength but these kids do not have physical issues. I guess it's "cool" to lift weights so it makes other topics (like employment) more desirable. If it works I'm all for it.

The Paddling Press

I hope it's approved! I think this is a great way to reach out to the TRR paddlers of past. There are too many people that were once and done. This is a way to get to know and actively involve people in our program. Articles may be in the following categories: 1) historical, 2) national, 3) local, and 4) personal. Examples of articles #1 famous people and related events, news from headquarters in Maryland, #3 news from our chapter and others, #4 getting to know local people who are/were involved and asking for their ideas. Hopefully help will follow because when people have a stake in something they usually care more. This may take awhile to catch on but I think it's worth a try.

project progression

Last week was a meeting of various non-profits about their successes and challenges when it comes to implementing projects. Many people rely on volunteers but it is hard to keep them interested and grow the numbers. Some of the ways to do this include express your appreciation, include them in decision making, and ask them for their ideas. The participants involved with TRR often try the activity a few times but do not necessarily continue. Therefore there are many people who would still be interested but do not have a person to invite them to the next activity. This could be remedied by going through the people and inviting them to an event such as a paddling party and then slip a meeting in. This way our larger projects will be more successfully because we can count on more participants. I'm excited to explore this idea.

2 collaborations

I think we're going to get somewhere with my part of the fundraising. I attended a breakfast for a local fire company. I asked the lady in charge a question about the group in charge. They invited me to a meeting and now I'm on track. there's a restaurant who will give 10% of a daily bill to a non-profit to patrons who have the flyer- even if the just received the flyer in the parking lot! Then I discovered that the leader of the group belongs to a large church who has a large members. My idea is to help their programs any way I can, then ask if I can show the video, then request donations. That's the only way I will roll with this. Furthermore, I will solicit gift cards from grocery stores, which I've done in the past, rather than ask strangers for donations. Now I can feel proud of my own ability to contribute and not rely on my speaking engagements and worry about getting more.