If you’ve been reading this blog the last few days, you know I just returned
from speaking at the US Olympic Training Center for young Paralympic
hopefuls. My speaking goals this year included adding clients like Fortune
500 companies Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and companies that really care like
Hallmark Cards, Patagonia, etc. After my weekend with some incredible young
athletes, my wish now is for more engagements like this one. In the coming days, I will be writing about some of the experiences I had while I was there along with some of the most incredible inspirational stories of some pretty awesome young people with amazing stories.

The day I left to come back, I met Tom Kersey who is the director of the New
England Handicapped Sports Association. Tom, his staff, and volunteers give
disabled people of all ages the thrill of their lives on snow. For twelve
years, Tom has spent every weekend and two weeks of his vacation
volunteering with the Ski NEHSA organization. A few years ago, when the
director’s job came open, Tom jumped at the chance. He took a 50% pay cut to
become the organization’s director. Colleagues from his previous job at
Nationwide Insurance thought Tom was crazy when he told them he was leaving
to help disable people learn to ski. He was offered a number of additional
perks and an opportunity to move wherever he wanted if he would have stayed
with Nationwide. His old boss and his co-workers didn’t get it. They asked
questions like, “Do you get paid for helping?” and “Do you get gas money or
free food?”

Tom sent his old boss a DVD of the program which caused them to “get it”. It
also resulted in a $15,000 donation for the program. Tom said, “It’s easy to
go to work if you love what you do. It’s such a big part of who you are.”
Tom says he gets calls from volunteers weekly who say things like “I am
having a bad day at work and I’d like to come volunteer.” He’s even had
people call in sick just so they could help in the program.

He says he gets letters almost every day of how the program has changed lives. Tom says “It’s not everyday that you work in a job where for twenty-five
dollars (the cost of a lift ticket) you can give someone a thrill they’ll never forget.”
He says the feeling you get from helping disabled skiers is not something you can buy
and it’s a priceless gift for both the volunteers and the participants. At least once a week
Tom said he gets comments like “This was the best day of my life.” Those comments come from both the leaders and participants. He frequently hears comment like an instructor told him recently, “I just had the best lesson of my life and I didn’t teach it”. There’s a lot of learning that comes from giving. Few know that better than Tom Kersey. 

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks
about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover,
increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies. He also is a leadership speaker, customer service trainer and sales motivator. For more information go to www.TimRichardson.com