Occupational Therapy Club continues to do work in the community
By Joshua Wolfe
The Occupational Therapy Assistant Club at Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus has been around since the 1990s and is active in the local community.
Despite that, OTA Club Vice President Samantha Walls said many people do not know what occupational therapy is.
“A lot of people say 'I don't need help finding a job,'” Walls said. “But that's not at all what it is.”
OTA Club member Tim Parks said that the first thing in understanding occupational therapy is to realize that an occupation isn't necessarily employment.
“It's anything you want to do,” Parks said. “Anything you occupy your time with.”
Parks recalled an analogy that: “A physical therapist gets you to the kitchen, but we let you do what you want when you get there.”
The OTA Club, which is exclusive to OTA students, volunteers its time at various events in the area. They volunteer at the annual Walk With Me Delmarva held in October at Baywood Greens in Longneck.
“There were volunteers at each hole holding up signs who would clap and cheer them on,” Walls said. “Afterwards, there was a big dinner. They had a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun.”
They also volunteered when the Holly Center in Salisbury, Md. held a prom in the spring semester of 2013.
“We were escorts for everyone who lives there,” OTA Club Secretary Terrianne Zocco said. “That was a nice experience.”
OTA Instructor and Club President Nancy Broadhurst said they helped promote Backpack Awareness.
“We were helping to educate students about carrying a safe amount of weight and how a backpack should be worn,” Broadhurst said. “Both shoulders, high and tight with a maximum of 15 percent of your body weight.”
The American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference & Expo was held in Maryland in April 2014 and Delaware Technical Community College OTA members attended.
“There was a big welcome ceremony where Wounded Warriors talked about how occupational therapy changed and influenced their life,” Walls said. “It's a good experience for us to get out and do things like that because we can see that we're impacting individual's lives.”
The OTA Club held a fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings in Rehoboth on Sept. 24.
“You had to turn in a flier saying you were with the OTA Club and we got 20 percent of those profits,” OTA Club treasurer Miranda Wood said.
The next fundraiser will be starting in November with the OTA Club selling Christmas greens, wreaths, and garland.