BY MICHAEL HENRY
PALS Volunteer
Last month I hosted a pickleball tournament fundraiser for PALS Programs and it was amazing! I was able to combine two loves in my life: PALS and Pickleball!
I am still pretty new to the PALS community. I learned about PALS in March of 2023 and, after doing some research, I decided to apply to be a Peer at PALS Richmond. I can confidently say that this was the greatest experience of my life. Before PALS, I did not have any experience being around individuals with Down Syndrome, so it was a very eye-opening week. All of my expectations were completely turned upside-down. As I got to know my partner, Ryan, I quickly learned that we have more similarities than differences. Probably the most impactful part of the week was the Congratulations Project. Each of us wrote a letter to a family expecting a baby with Down syndrome. Hearing the Partners read their letter out loud moved me to tears. I have never cried so hard in my life! It really changed something in me, and even inspired me to go to PALS Boston later in the summer.
At the end of the summer, I was trying to think of how to stay engaged with PALS and support the organization. That’s when I got the idea to host a Pickleball Tournament in my hometown of State College, PA. Nothing in my life has been so impactful or amazing as PALS has been, plus I really like pickleball and I kinda just wanted to play in a tournament. Soooo boom, best of both worlds! I get to play in a pickleball tournament and PALS gets the benefits. When I put my mind to something, I get it done. I reached out to 50+ companies asking for sponsorships. I posted signs around the courts to get players and emailed a bunch of people. With the help of many people along the way we ended up having 82 people register for the event and raised just under $4,000 for PALS. I got the local radio out to the tournament to broadcast about PALS and raise awareness. We got PALS staff to come out to the event and talk to people. That was probably my favorite part. I was busy most of the day but Shelby was able to talk with many people about PALS and explain what they do, why they do it, everything. When I would walk past her and hear little snippets of her conversations I couldn’t help but smile. It was really amazing!
If you are looking for a way to stay involved with PALS while counting down the days to next summer, I would definitely suggest hosting a fundraiser. I had a lot of fun putting it on and it was surprisingly easier than I expected. I found two things that I loved and made something brand new. If you find something you love and put your mind to it, nothing can stop you!
