The 5th annual PT Day of Service™ takes place worldwide on Saturday, October 12th! We have seen nearly 15,000 participants in 60 countries join the cause since the inception of PTDOS in 2015. What began as a simple question of “What if…” has grown into a worldwide movement – and we are excited to share our passion for service with you!
How you can get involved
Getting involved in PTDOS is easy! Every year we have individuals who sign up as ambassadors, participants, or sponsors.
- Ambassadors help to plan local service projects. They can plan an event
independently or with a larger organization such as their workplace or
university. Our Ambassadors are provided with toolkits and constant support to
help you create a successful service project. - Participants are the driving force of PTDOS and thousands pledge to participate
each year to get involved with local projects. - Sponsors show their
support for the PTDOS movement each year. APTA has regularly been a sponsor of
PTDOS! Contributions help fund and fuel PTDOS’s parent organization, Move Together. Move
Together is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to increase
access to quality rehab medicine around the corner and around the world. Move
Together handles all of the operations and expenses involved with planning,
promoting and executing PTDOS each year.
We have seen some exciting service events since
PTDOS began – Zombie Fun Runs, Beach Clean-ups, the Special Olympics. Below you’ll
find some inspiring ideas from previous years to spark your creativity when
planning or searching for an event this year!
Pack-A-Snack
Kellee Moran PT, DPT, ATC, who works at Professional
Therapy Services in Indiana, helped bring Pack-A-Snack to her clinic.
Pack-A-Snack was developed as an opportunity to reach out to children in the
community and help bridge the “hunger gap” between school days. THey
set up collection in area clinics for staff and patients to donate
non-perishable items like fruit snacks, fruit cups, tuna packets, popcorn, and
microwaveable pasta. They ended up collecting 1383 items and are hoping to set
the bar even higher when they bring this project back this year. This project
has the ability to improve the quality of life for some of the most vulnerable
individuals in their community by providing them with a basic necessity that
many of us take for granted everyday.
Ask a PT!
Ben Braxley PT, DPT, NCS, along with other physical therapists and students from the Northeast District of the California Physical Therapy Association brought their expertise to local walkers and runners with their Ask A PT event. They set up at McKinley Park in Sacramento, CA, which is a popular spot for local runners and walkers. Armed with foam rollers, yoga mats, and other exercise equipment, they were able to show the weekend warriors safe and effective ways to stretch and strengthen their bodies. They also helped educate the public about physical therapy and how to easily find local physical therapists using APTA’s Find a PT resource.
Debris Free
Oceans Clean-up
Alicia Canton volunteered with Debris Free Oceans in Miami, FL with close
to 20 of her classmates from the University of Miami. They helped clean up
trash around the Wynwood district in Miami with the goal to “Clean up our
Oceans and Wynwood” to prevent this trash from making its way to their
beautiful oceans. In just 1 hour they collected over 200 pounds of trash. Not
only did this catch their attention, but it caught the attention of the local
residents who showered them with gratitude and thanks. They found it so special
to be able to help the environment while helping impact their local community.
Those are just a few of the exciting projects we’ve
seen for PT Day of Service over the year and we can’t wait to see all of the
amazing service projects spread across the globe this year. Join thousands of
physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, students, and others as we
serve our local and global community on October 12! Be sure to keep up to date
with all things PTDOS through our Website and Social Media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
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