PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE : Get Involved

In my message last month I reminded everyone how lucky United Spinal is to have such dedicated and hard working staff and board members. This month I am reaching out to each of you and asking you to show your support for United Spinal by becoming an active participating member. For some this may be the first time you find a means to show your participation. For others this will mean increasing your current level of participation.

An organization gets its strength from the members. That is, from you. When you are active, you are noticed, and when you are noticed, your support of United Spinal’s beliefs and activities will be noticed.

So how can you become active?

Being active takes many forms. You could start by doing local committee work, or by campaigning for a benefit. You may be the one to start a group to meet for coffee and raise awareness about local disability issues. Perhaps you are more suited to offering your time to make a visit to a newly injured patient or a long-term patient at your local hospital. We may find you wheeling down the street with the parade or watching from the sidelines.

You may be a spectator at a sponsored event or you may be the athlete on the field. I know firsthand from the many years I have participated in wheelchair basketball, tennis, racing, and handcycling just how important the spectator is. Those of you who participate by watching the event not only provide the support many of us need to cross a finish line, but you also channel the event’s life and vitality. Your participation will become contagious and will help others recognize the importance of our organization. This recognition often translates into donations from the nonspinal-injured population. Sometimes these donations will be in the form of a service; other times they will be monetary. Whatever they are, your visibility as a United Spinal member will be the catalyst for that donation.

Being active might mean that you take that special talent you have and share it with others. Whether you are chatting with someone who is newly injured, or with friends who have been living with an injury for years, the perspective you have brings to light the realization that our needs really aren’t unique because they are shared by others-just not by the able-bodied population. You and those you are with will realize no one is in this alone. No therapist is able to tell us all of the little things that we are, or will experience. We are the experts on our disabilities and we need to share that expertise with each other.

Being active may mean that you take your special talent and enjoyment of writing and author an article for Orbit. What about that hobby of yours? How can you share that with other members? We need you to be active and you need to be active, because active members make a healthy membership, and our membership is the foundation of United Spinal Association.

Clair Russell Hesselton, PhD

President