GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Nobody was keeping score, but everyone was winning.
Players from the Grand Rapids Rise made a stop at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital this week as part of their Players With Purpose Program.
“Sports has given me so much in my life, and it's really nice to see that accessible for everyone,” Outside Hitter with the Rise Carli Snyder told me.
In the program's second year, $5 from tickets purchased for the remaining home matches is donated to local non-profits picked by the players.
Mary Free Bed is on that list.
And a visit that outside hitter Carli told me she loves to make.
“I see the, like [the] passion just from each person that we've met today, and the innovation is amazing," Carli said. "I think there's a lot of creativity and making things accessible to everyone, and just seeing how the community supports something like this that is unlike other places in the country is really remarkable.”
This game was a good example of that. With the Rise players taking on some of the challenges that a patient might be facing, like limited arm mobility, and playing a game of wheelchair volleyball.
Exciting for both the pros and patients.
“It gets them engaged," Physical Therapist Assistant Carly Redderbuscgh told me. "It gets them to forget what we're here for in doing therapy and doing more of something fun while they're doing what they need to do to get better and stronger to get out of here.”
But – Carli and the Rise are not forgetting what they are here for. And that’s the idea.
“We're just so grateful for the communities that have been able to uplift this and have chosen to support women's sports, and I think that we want to choose to support everyone in the community that we can as well and be as much a part of it as possible,” added Snyder.
Check out the schedule for the rest of the season's Rise home games here.
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