Listening to the Go-Giver Podcast the other day while working out at the local Y, Randy Gage, author/speaker being interviewed discussed what it meant to make an impact. His definition is:
Impact = how you affect the people and world around you
Bottom line take away was, you can work your butt off to create something (a book, event or service) but if it doesn’t affect individuals around you then your efforts had no impact.
As all good podcasts should, this episode caused me to reflect on how TeamUp-KS is making an impact, or rather, how we are affecting those around us. Even though our mission statement says that we provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in running, bicycling, swimming, endurance, duathlon, triathlon and similar events by matching them to able-bodied athletes and appropriate equipment it doesn’t reflect how we affect those that we serve.
What we really do is provide our team captains and teammates the chance to be part of something bigger than themselves. Our team captains learn to stretch outside their comfort zones, participating in events they would never have dreamed of being a part of, making new friends and a support group along the way. We provide ways to escape the challenges of their individual situations. We give parents and spouses an hour or two of freedom or a chance for family members to participate in healthy activities together. I think our tagline says it best, We Free Captive Spirits.
As is the case of most nonprofits, we can never make our impact alone. It takes the efforts of others together for the common good of those individuals it sets out to serve. If you feel so inclined, you can helps us continue to Free Captive Spirits and make an impact by contributing or sharing our Race Chair for Jordan fundraiser .
Thanks a million to all that have supported us along the way!
Kevin Gehrer
teamup-ks.org 