IDA of the NRV

“My brother George died in 2008, of complications from diabetes. He faced a few intellectual challenges of his own—he wasn't good at school work and as a kid he had occasional petit mal seizures when he was nervous—but he made his way through life on his own, a hard-working taxpayer.

Most importantly, George was one of the most generous, modest people I have ever known—that rare person who never brags about his own good deeds.

At his funeral, we discovered that George had for years been doing good deeds for a scattered group of folks who had more serious intellectual disabilities, from Down Syndrome to accident-related brain damage. Sometimes one at a time, sometimes in groups, George would take them out to lunch or dinner, organize and pay for bowling outings, ferry them to medical appointments, even take them on small weekend "vacations" to see, for example, professional wrestling matches in not-too-distant cities.

George had done all this on his own, with his own money, extemporaneously—nothing organized or planned or supported by anyone else. He would just meet someone, and he would do things for them. At his funeral, we met some of these folks and their families for the first time, and they told us of his good deeds and how they loved him. Their grief over his death was profound.

Yesterday I got to play in a golf tournament sponsored by the Intellectual Disabilities Agency of the New River Valley here in Virginia. This good organization would have appreciated the good works of my brother George.“

Due to Covid 19, IDA is offering very limited programming. We follow CDC guidelines to maintain a safe environment for our participants and volunteers. We will keep you informed as we finalize plans for future programs.