Step Up For Disabilities

9/25/21 - Special Pops Fall Classic Tennis Tournament

In August 2021, I received a $500 grant from KPMG and Special Olympics for the Special Pops Fall Classic Tennis Tournament on Sept 24-25, 2021. Special Pops is adaptive tennis organization for kids and adults of all ages. The planned use for the grant money was to purchase tennis balls, medals or other equipment for the tournament. I met with my mentors from KPMG and Special Olympics every other week leading up to the event to discuss the project and my progress.In order to receive the grant money, my project was to recruit students at my school to volunteer in the tournament with the goal of increasing awareness and acceptance for people with disabilities. I successfully implemented my project plan and had 16 volunteers participate in the tournament as doubles partners in the tournament! I was able to double the number of participants that I had recruited in 2020! I also expanded my reach because students from 2 other High Schools and a Middle School student participated. All of the grant money was used to purchase medals for the athletes. I was able to increase the number of volunteers due to my increased marketing efforts. These were:putting flyers on TV monitors throughout campus, speaking about Special Pops at club meeting, putting the information in the student annoucements, advertising on WCAT (campus newscast), sending emails to club members, recruiting other club leaders to advertise to their clubs, asking tennis coaches to help to recruit students and posting flyer and signup link on social media. All of the volunteers had a great time! Two Special Pops athletes tied for 1st place in the tournament this year. One of the athletes told the other "This means we are both winners!" I received such great feedback from the Executive Director of Special Pops again this year for my work recruiting volunteers and getting the grant. I definitely plan to participate again next year!!