‘Call for Volunteers’ Sounded For October 16 Walkathon

 DANBURY — First, there is the electrician who wanted to put his technical skills to use. So he will be helping to set up the stage at Ability Beyond Disability’s Second Annual Walk Beyond Disability, set for Sunday, October 16, in downtown Danbury.

Then there is the woman in a wheelchair who wants to part of an event that focuses on the last seven letters of the word “disability.” She will be stationed in the volunteer tent guiding other volunteers to their assigned spaces.

There is also the quartet of senior citizens who want to give some of their free time to their community. They will be helping to register the walkers prior to the event’s 10 am start.

And to demonstrate that help will be coming from people of all ages, there will be approximately 50 students from the National Honor Society at Danbury High School and Broadview and Rogers Park Middle Schools — plus at least eight Girl Scouts — performing a variety of roles to keep things moving smoothly.

What these individuals all have in common, in addition to a desire to help people with disabilities be active participants in their communities, is exposure to the recruiting of Mark Marsh, the development relationship manager for Ability Beyond Disability. Mr Marsh is devoting his days — and chunks of his evenings and weekends, too — to recruiting volunteers to make the agency’s second annual walkathon even more successful than last year’s inaugural event.

“There are a host of administrative matters and day-of-walk details that have to be attended to, and only so many Ability Beyond Disability staff people,” he says. “Without the volunteer help of friends, neighbors, and those with no previous ties to the organization, there is no way we can stage a successful walk.”

Included among the tasks that will have to be performed shortly before and during the walkathon are registering walkers, guiding them along the five-mile and one-and-a-half mile routes, assisting in the adjacent parking lots, dispensing food and liquid refreshments to walkers, providing first aid, assisting walkers in wheelchairs, and helping stragglers who may fall behind the majority of the walkers.

“All told, there are 16 functional areas that will have to be staffed between October 14 and 16,” Mr Marsh says.

To achieve his goal of matching or surpassing last year’s recruiting of 200 volunteers, Mr Marsh is working with the Greater Danbury Area Volunteer Bureau and United Way, as well as area service clubs, schools, religious organizations, honor societies, and community organizations such as Loaned Executives and Community Solutions.

“If they haven’t already been approached by Ability Beyond Disability, they should call me at 203-775-4700, ext 3173, and we’ll find a spot for them. We’ll even welcome people who decide they want to help on the morning of October 16 and can arrive at Rogers Park by 8 am.”

Interested individuals can also visit www.abilitybeyonddisability.org or www.volunteersolutions.org/ucswc/org/opp/6886534.htm to get more information about the walk.

Ability Beyond Disability (formerly Datahr Rehabilitation Institute) is a 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Bethel, with additional offices in Mount Kisco, N.Y. It provides a wide range of services for people with a disability that inhibits their activities of daily living — including numerous residential alternatives, employment training, career counseling, job placement services, cognitive and life skills instruction, clinical and therapeutic support, and volunteer and recreational activities — for approximately 1,000 people at some 200 diversified sites. Today, its services extend far beyond the Danbury community and range from west of Hartford throughout Fairfield County and into Westchester and Putnam Counties in New York.