Ready, Willing & Able: FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Met-Ed Volunteers Assist with IM ABLE Adaptive Games
Several years ago, MaryBeth Emerich, a FirstEnergy IT supervisor, accepted an invitation for her autistic twins to attend an inclusive fitness class offered by the IM ABLE Foundation at its facility in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.
When she arrived at the adaptive gymnasium with her children, she was delighted with how the staff and volunteers welcomed them to the class, designed to help participants work on cardiovascular endurance, balance and flexibility.
“I went there thinking this is just not going to work, and I’m just setting my boys up for failure,” Emerich said. “But in the long run, I was setting them up for a long-term purpose of being a part of a community that will always be there to support them.”
The experience moved Emerich to join the IM ABLE Foundation’s board of directors to help the organization fulfill its mission: removing obstacles that often sideline people with intellectual or physical challenges by providing access to programs and equipment tailored to their needs.
Emerich also is a member of THRIVE, one of FirstEnergy's Employee Business Resource Groups designed to foster an inclusive work environment where employees with physical and mental disabilities and conditions are empowered to be authentic, valued and respected. The group also provides support and encouragement for employees who have family members and friends with physical and mental disabilities and conditions.
Emerich worked with the FirstEnergy Foundation to provide the IM ABLE Foundation with a $10,000 grant to help fund its “Operation Lead from the Front” program pairing military veterans with adults and youth with physical or intellectual disabilities as workout buddies to share camaraderie and overcome challenges. The buddies also attend community events such as adaptive golf clinics or adventure challenges.
Reading-based employees of FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (FE PA), which does business in eastern areas of the state as Met-Ed, often volunteer their time and talents with IM ABLE.
Seven Met-Ed employees assisted with the IM ABLE Games at the Reading Regional Airport held Sept. 21. The games featured fun, family-friendly competitions for people of all ages and abilities that included an obstacle course, a run-and-bike duathlon, two-mile fun run and even a chicken wing eating contest. Met-Ed’s volunteers registered contestants and passed out water at stations along the racecourse.
Kristen Conrad, a supervisor in FirstEnergy’s mapping and design software department, took part in the duathlon which included an eight-mile bike ride bookended by two-mile runs. Hobbled by a stress fracture suffered while training for the event, Conrad pedaled the bike with a boot on her right foot and partnered with a friend from her gym who did the running.
“I was in pain, I was tired, but there was no way I was going to stop,” she said. “It was a very humbling experience, being next to superior athletes, some of them missing limbs. They had the biggest smiles on their faces. They were unstoppable.”
Conrad promised to return.
“It was an absolutely wonderful event,” she said. “I’ll do it every year if I can. It was so inspiring.”
To learn more about the FirstEnergy Foundation and FirstEnergy’s community involvement initiatives visit Community (firstenergycorp.com).
Cutline info: Met-Ed volunteers present Chris Kaag, founder of the IM ABLE Foundation, with a $10,000 grant from the FirstEnergy Foundation during the recent IM ABLE Games held at the Reading Airport. The grant will help fund IM ABLE’s Operation Lead from the Front program.