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Good Connections: Those with disabilities have a lot of offer through volunteering


“Wherever we are, there is another person who needs us,” said Don Post (right), who recently volunteered at Kansas Speedway to help Bikers for Babies. Post, who struggles with health problems, gives his time to a number of causes.


Despite his own struggles with ALS, Don Post pushes aside his everyday struggles to give of his time.

For years, Post has been a tireless volunteer for a number of nonprofits: the March of Dimes, Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the American Diabetes Association, the Salvation Army and the Special Olympics. And he’s an excellent example to others.

Post, a former sales manager who turned 65 this month, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1980 and then with ALS in 1988. From the very start, he decided that he would devote “the time I had left to helping other people wherever I can.”

One of his favorite slogans: “I’ll do almost anything for nothing.”

But Post has had a long association with giving. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he volunteered to help Special Olympic athletes. Growing up in Elwood, Kan., he was called upon for search and rescue duties in the Missouri River because of his swimming skills.

Now volunteering is at the center of Post’s life and, in many ways, gives him life.

“That’s why I am alive,” Post said. “If I don’t, I have no reason to get up in the morning. I would lie there. I plan my agenda the night before so I have a reason to get up.”

ALS has slurred Post’s speech and he gets around in a power wheelchair, but volunteering has taught him a lot.

“I love people of all kinds. Everyone has a heart,” he said “It’s not about me — it’s about the world.”

Post said he would be happy to help others with disabilities find volunteer work.

“I will find them a job,” he said with a broad smile. “Wherever we are, there is another person who needs us.”

There are many advantages to having those with disabilities volunteer, said Sara Baker, supervisor of community integration at the Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City.

One is educating the public.

“It’s an opportunity to educate people what disabilities are,” Baker said. “It makes those folks aware and more comfortable to be around people with disabilities.”

And volunteering can give self-worth, exercise and social interaction, Baker said.

Baker suggests that those with disabilities consider volunteer work with organizations that work with people with disabilities.

“People with disabilities have a lot to contribute,” Baker said.


Good Connections tells stories of people who are giving – and getting – help. If you have a story idea, call Debra Skodack at 816-234-4738 or send e-mail to dskodack@kcstar.com.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/452333.html