From April 18-19, several Whirlpool Corporation volunteers from southwest Michigan and Greenville, Ohio, volunteered at the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) national tournament in Louisville, Ky. The Whirlpool Veterans Association (WVA) sponsored these volunteers as they represented the company during the prestigious NWBA event that honors athletes from around the country.
Our volunteers met with former military veteran athletes and their families at a pre-game team breakfast, as well as helped support gameday activities during the actual games. Throughout the tournament, the volunteers passed out cookbooks, aprons, and EveryDropTM water filters compliments of Whirlpool Corporation.
The NWBA was founded in 1948 to assist wounded and physically disabled WWII Veterans with their rehabilitation. Today, the NWBA is the oldest Disabled Sports Organization in the United States serving both veterans and non-veterans alike. Each year, the NWBA hosts the largest wheelchair basketball tournament in the world.
This marks the first year Whirlpool has sponsored the NWBA and sent volunteers to the national tournament. Attending a wheelchair basketball tournament was a first for some of our volunteers as well.
“This was the first time I have been to a wheelchair basketball game,” said Tiffanee Pecoraro, project analyst in Whirlpool Corporation’s Global Products Organization based in Benton Harbor, Mich. “The games were still close and even more intense. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! I would be the first in line to volunteer again!”
Andrew Petro, project engineer at the Greenville, Ohio plant added, “Representing Whirlpool at this event was a fun and rewarding experience.”
Another volunteer impressed was Joe Pecoraro, a U.S. Army veteran and Water Systems lab technician based in Benton Harbor, Mich.
“This was my first time at a wheelchair basketball game, and I was overwhelmed with the strength and courage displayed at the event,” Joe Pecoraro said. “Representing Whirlpool filled me with great pride for our company and really fueled my conversations with the people about how great it is to work at Whirlpool.”
The WVA is an official Whirlpool Employee Resource Group. The group’s mission is to support the recruiting, onboarding and retention of veterans and their families into the Whirlpool workforce and community.