Headed to the 2019 APTA Combined Sections Meeting (CSM)? Now you can help out the local community while you're there. It's easy.
This year, CSM attendees have 2 opportunities to help kids and adults in the DC/Maryland/Northern Virginia (DMV) area. One involves little more than downloading an app and doing what physical therapists (PTs), physical therapist assistants (PTAs), and students like to do anyway—move. The other may require that you pack a little extra something into your luggage before you leave, but hey, do you really need those extra pairs of socks?
Details on both programs, and how to sign up, are available on APTA's CSM Community Service webpage. Here's a quick rundown of the opportunities:
1. Walk4Wheels Step Challenge
What is it? A good old-fashioned count-your-steps-for-charity jam. APTA is poised to donate $10,000 to the MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital's adaptive sports program, which serves families in the DMV by providing sports programs to anyone with a physical disability at no cost—but we need to meet a step goal first.
What do I have to do? Just walk. Use the link on the CSM Community Service webpage to download a special app that tracks your steps each day between Monday, January 21, through midnight, January 27. If attendees, members, and staff reach a combined goal of 135 million steps, APTA will make the $10,000 donation. Best of all, you don't need to attend CSM to participate—anyone can download the app and help contribute to this great cause.
2. Sports Equipment Drive
What is it? APTA national, the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy, the Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy, and the APTA Council on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Wellness have partnered with the nonprofit Level Playing Field (LPF) to sponsor a collection drive for new and used sports equipment to provide to low-income kids in the DMV area.
What do I have to do? Review a list of needed items, then bring your donations to the CSM exhibit hall during the times listed on the CSM Community Service webpage, or during the Academy of Sports Physical Therapy's social event on Friday, January 25, 7:00 pm–7:30 pm (Mariott Marquis, Salon LM). Alternatively, you can simply make a financial donation to LPF. (Note: don't donate large equipment that's bulky or hard to transport.)