Senior Consultant Jon Merrick was eager to share his volunteering passion with his colleagues at Integrated Project Management Company, Inc. (IPM). So he offered to lead the company’s quarterly philanthropic effort and chose the theme of adaptive sports, which encourage fitness, confidence, teamwork, and community.
Merrick’s connection with adaptive sports began in childhood; his brother used a wheelchair all his life due to cerebral palsy. Later in life, Merrick volunteered at a Military Paralympics event with coworkers and found he wanted to do more. He began helping to coach a wheelchair basketball team.
“I got to know the guys through our team travel to out-of-state tournaments, through joking around in practice,” Merrick says. “Quickly they became friends versus players. One of my players was previously a gang member and was shot at 16 years old. I got to see him finish his GED, get his college degree, his masters, marry the able-bodied nurse who helped him when he was in the hospital, and have two beautiful daughters. I had set out to help others and do something good for someone else and realized I was taking more from them than I could possibly have given them.”
Taking Them to Court
Merrick recruited a group of volunteers from the Chicago office to support the Second City Showdown Wheelchair Basketball Tournament. The event, sponsored by the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, brought several midwestern National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) teams to compete over two days. IPMers helped with set-up, bookkeeping, scorekeeping, timing, and tear-down.
Similarly, a group of volunteers from the St. Louis offices supported the Disabled Athlete Sports Association’s Arch Madness basketball tournament. They fulfilled a variety of roles, such as scorer table responsibilities, penalty box management, event set-up and cleanup, and lunch service. And IPMers in Minneapolis will help with similar tasks at the upcoming Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute tournament.
Beyond Basketball
In Boston, IPM volunteers supported training and practice throughout October for the Boston Self Help Center’s power soccer league. They helped to set up the court, transfer athletes to their modified power wheelchairs, and run skill drills with the players. The Boston Self Help Center provides sports, recreation, and other resources for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. IPM consultants are also helping the non-profit organization improve project management, decision-making, and other operational skills.
Los Angeles IPMers helped with a wheelchair tennis event. They unloaded and set up the wheelchairs and equipment, served as ball people during the matches, and helped dissemble the chairs and load them back into the van. Angel City Sports, which provides about 250 clinics a year across 25 adaptive sports, held the event.
Another program that offers many sports is the Berkeley Outreach Recreation Program (BORP). The San Francisco office sponsored the non-profit’s Adaptive Sports Expo, where people got to try a variety of team sports, play games, and enjoy food and music. IPM volunteers helped to set up the event, register attendees, and support staff running the expo.
Finally, the New Jersey office supported Special Olympics NJ, whose mission is to provide sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them the chance to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate with their families, other athletes, and the community.
IPM employees lead and participate in quarterly philanthropy efforts through our Integrated Project Mercy program. Visit our careers page to learn more about joining the IPM family.
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