Money well spent

Props to Tom & Michelle who are getting me a newer, functional, lightweight head lamp!  Thanks! Props to Amanda, who's currently with a group from Kaiser in New Orleans helping to clean up houses, build playgrounds and baseball diamonds, and set up clinics.  It's been great to read your emails, and you're inspiring me to stay motivated for my trip to Haiti!  Lastly, I'm so excited that SMU DPT grads Kathy & Bryan will be going to Haiti in September to volunteer with AdvantageHaiti! Hopefully I can give you some good, practical advice when I get back!

I had an interesting conversation the other day about my trip.  I had just met these folks (a chiropractor and a massage therapist), and they were both genuinely excited that I was going to Haiti, but both of them didn't even know if anyone in their professions were on the ground there nor did they have any idea who they would contact to see if they could volunteer.  Now, I'm going to be completely upfront...I'm a big supporter and believer in professional organizations.  I'm a proud member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), and I'm actively involved. And this trip is one tiny example of why.

I found AdvantageHaiti through the APTA. That's right.  Only a few days after the earthquake, the APTA already had a page up with groups supported by or run by members who were working to provide physical therapy. In January, when the earthquake happened, I wasn't able to get out of work and other professional obligations, and thought it was nice of them to serve as a clearinghouse of information for people who could volunteer.  Once I realized my summer load would allow me to volunteer, I returned to that same information page on the APTA's website, and started my search for a program to volunteer with, and was happy to see the page had been periodically updated. Right there, my association dues at work! 

I wonder how many other needed volunteers have had trouble accessing the information they need to make an informed decision about how and when and with whom to volunteer because they aren't connected with their professional association, didn't think to use their professional association, or their associations don't provide this type of member service?  It also made me both proud and glad to be a member of my own professional association.  Well done, APTA.