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The Winter Meeting of the Ohio TM Support Group was held on Saturday, January 11, 2003 in Worthington. Several new faces were seen as friends, family and people with TM gathered for a day of food, fun, friendship and education. Presentations were made by The Adaptive Adventure Sports Coalition, Sandy Siegel from the TMA and updates on the happenings of the group by some of its committee members. |
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It was our pleasure to welcome Tammy Burt, PhD, representing The Adaptive Adventure Sports Coalition (TAASC), a non-profit organization headquartered in Ohio who is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities by providing sports and recreational activities. TAASC also offers opportunities for empowerment through education, leadership, and training in collaboration with numerous community-based organizations. Their sports and recreation programs in and around Ohio include:
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TAASC is available to aid in educating about the health benefits of both recreational and competitive sports and activity and has full-time staff available. Anyone interested in becoming a member of TAASC, seeing a schedule of events or just gaining additional information can visit their website at www.taasc.org, or can call (614) 293-4963. Additional contact information is on their website. Sue Sutherland, PhD, is the executive director of TAASC and a good friend and member of the Transverse Myelitis Association. We are very grateful to Sue, the staff, and team of volunteers at TAASC for their continued support of the TMA and the Ohio Support Group. We are looking forward to tapping into this tremendous resource. |
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Stephen Miller, one of the Support Group Committee members addressed the group about fundraising opportunities and gave an update on some of the projects underway since the last meeting. Thanks to the efforts of Flora Noland and Diane Eitel, both from Dresden, a donation from the Longaberger Company has been secured as a prize for a raffle. The company hand weaves custom wood collectible baskets that are recognized around the world and has provided the Ohio TMA with an accessorized basket signed by members of the Longaberger family. Other projects being developed include providing barrels to local companies and colleges to collect empty ink and toner cartridges for recycling. The TMA is registered with RecycleInkjets.com and can earn points redeemable for free products and cash. The Ohio support group is beginning a campaign to place collection barrels on college campuses and businesses around the state to collect & redeem empty cartridges. If you have inkjet, laser, fax machine, or copier cartridges to recycle, click here and enter beneficiary ID 10040 when you register. Stephen also publicly announced for the first time his intentions to participate in "Ride The Rockies", a 5-day, nearly 500-mile bicycle tour though the Rocky Mountains in Colorado taking place this June. The purpose of which is to raise monies and awareness for the Transverse Myelitis Association. He will be riding with 2,000 other cyclists from around the world - except he will be doing it on a handcycle. He is in training now and is actively seeking sponsors, both corporate and individual, to help with traveling and training expenses. If you are interested in helping with this effort, or know of someone who would be, please contact him at smkmiller@erinet.com for information. Stephen was diagnosed with acute TM at the T-11/T-12 level in 1983 |
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Those attending were also encouraged to join and take advantage of the Transverse Myelitis Internet Club. The TMIC is a great place to post questions and read responses about any topic for the TM community. It's become a tremendous networking tool for groups and individuals to stay connected to people from around the world affected by TM, not to mention a great way to meet and develop new friendships. If you are interested in joining the TMIC, click here and read all about it. We hope to see you there! Please frequently visit the Association's website at www.myelitis.org for updates on events, TM news and other general happenings in the TM community. |
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Sandy Siegel, President of the Transverse Myelitis Association addressed the crowd on news and plans being developed with the association at large. He announced the planning of a strategic development workshop being held this July in Seattle, Washington. Invitations will be extended to all members of the TMA Medical Advisory Board, TMA Board of Directors, and Support Group leaders from around the world. The workshop is designed to better organize the association to facilitate communication and information sharing between the various focus groups and specialties within the association. Topics being scheduled for discussion include effective fundraising thru local support groups and national campaigns, and attracting media attention geared at spreading TM awareness. Although this workshop is still in the planning stages, we're excited about the potential for advancing the goals of the association and fostering support group development on a broader scale.