Traveling to Battle Creek, MI for a Charity Workshop with the Air National Guard was a new and rewarding experience for us as both human beings and team building facilitators. we came in expecting to see efficiency, poise, and relentless effort, but what we witnessed was that and so much more. If we taught those men and women a tenth of what they taught us, we can consider our jobs well done.

The Military Order of The Purple Heart Chapter 110 Brought Out the Best in Everyone

This was a WheelCharity Workshop we designed for 30 Air National Guardspeople. Their leadership wanted the team to keep their teamwork skills sharp by participating in a philanthropic exercise, so a WheelCharity event seemed like the logical choice. During one of these workshops, participants are divided into teams. The teams compete to gather the necessary parts and then race to assemble the actual wheelchairs.

It always feels great to be a part of a WheelCharity event, but this one was perhaps even more special. One of the most rewarding aspects of this workshop– for participants and facilitators alike– was the charity the that the Air National Guard had chosen to help. They had decided to donate the wheelchairs they assembled to The Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 110. Also called the MOPH, this is essentially an advocacy and support group for military veterans wounded in combat. We could think of no other organization more deserving of our help.

A Truly Noble Effort

This was one of our shorter workshops– we only got the chance to spend a couple of hours with these amazing men and women, but it was time that we all felt was very well spent. The Air National Guard people were gung-ho from the start, with everyone pitching in and helping one another to achieve maximum results.

Considering that these were military members, the efficiency and discipline were impressive but not unexpected. What surprised and impressed the most, however, was the respect and compassion with which the Guardspeople carried out their duties. There were no wasted movements and no egos on display. All we saw was passion and dedication to the task at hand.

The end result was a win for everyone involved. The Air National Guard got to sharpen their skills and give to the community and The Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 110 received wheelchairs for their immobilized members. Just as importantly, we learned some valuable lessons in compassion and sacrifice as well.