Trending
Editor, News-Register:
We would like to thank the Ohio Valley community who came out in support of our friends and neighbors with disabilities during the third Annual Inclusion on Ice at Wheeling Park on Sunday, Feb. 11.
We recently heard someone refer to "inclusion" as an "ugly word" in today's world. Hearing that was puzzling and troubling. Inclusion means treating people of all abilities with dignity and respect. It means opening our hearts and minds to the possibility that our differences don't have to divide us.
At Inclusion on Ice, inclusion means a professional hockey player pushing a child in a wheelchair across the ice, having a conversation with that child, and making that child feel seen and heard. It means connecting families with resources to help them and their children live life to the fullest. It means raising the profile of people with disabilities so they feel more comfortable interacting with and being an integral part of our community as a whole.
Inclusion is beautiful. Inclusion equals love.
We would like to give a shout-out to the following businesses, agencies and groups that made our 3rd Annual Inclusion on Ice a huge success.
First and foremost, our awesome host organizations: Wheeling Nailers, Augusta Levy Learning Center, Easterseals Rehabilitation Center and Wheeling Park
Also, our sled hockey exhibition game participants: Mighty Penguins Sled Hockey, Wheeling Nailers and the Wheeling Lightningbirds
Our sponsors:
Title Sponsor: J.B. Chambers Memorial Foundation
Inclusion Champions: Regional Economic Development Partnership, City of Wheeling, Glessner, Wharton & Andrews Insurance, Kalkreuth Roofing & Sheet Metal, Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration, Blackburn's Home Medical Equipment & Supplies, WesBanco
Inclusion Partners: Ohio Valley Mall/Cafaro Foundation, The Ziegenfelder Company, Wheeling Volkswagen, Wilson Funeral Home, Mills Group LLC, WVABLE
Inclusion Advocates: Belmont Savings Bank, Altmeyer Funeral Homes, Youth Services System, Kiwanis Club of Wheeling, Moundsville Rotary Club, H.E. Neumann Co., Newbridge Church, Pete Holloway, Lynn Hetzel, Dr. Ellen Kitts, Jennifer Diaz
In-kind Sponsors: Wheeling Park/Oglebay Foundation, Rysing Star Dance Academy, Lamar Advertising Company, WTRF-TV, Panhandle Cleaning
Volunteer Groups: Rysing Star Dance Academy, Ohio River Valley Council Boy Scout Troops 6, 78, 79, 82 and 212, Laborers' Local 1149, West Virginia Northern Community College, Easterseals, Augusta Levy, Brianna Cecil and Wheeling Nailers
Vendors: So Nuts 4 Donuts, Mmm Popcorn, DeFelice Brothers Pizza, Selfie Snaps and Tripp's Fun Zone Party Rentals
Resource Fair exhibitors: Arc of Ohio-East Region, WVABLE, Rysing Star, Easterseals, Mighty Penguins, West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services, YWCA Wheeling Family Violence Prevention Program, YSS Youth Mentoring Network, Stone Martial Arts-No Limits, Russell Nesbitt Services Inc., West Virginia University Center for Excellence in Disabilities, Brooke Hancock Family Resource Network, Marshall County Family Resource Network, Aetna Better Health of West Virginia, Miracle League of the Ohio Valley.
We already are looking forward to next year's event!
Inclusion on Ice Committee
David George, Betsy Bethel-McFarland,
Taylor Rys, D.J. Abisalih and Jessica Osmianski