REACHING OUT TO HELP: ONE-MAN CRUSADE TO BUILD UNDERSTANDING

Ila Niswonger, David Grant and Melanie Rudolph are the 1996 winners of the Area Wide United Way/Ameritech Volunteer Awards, recoginzed for their service to the community

David Grant's goal is to show others just how much a disabled person can accomplish.

Grant, a survivor of childhood brain cancer who also has skin cancer, doesn't let either fact slow him down. In fact, he sees himself as a quiet, one-man crusade to build understanding of disabilities.

"Disabled people can get out and do regular, routine things," Grant said. "We are just like anybody else."

Grant serves on the board for the SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence, an organization dedicated to helping the disabled live as independently as possible. "I have extended myself to see how I can get involved."

Grant found his forte in volunteer work. He's a fund-raiser. He calls and visits businesses and individuals asking for donations of services, time, merchandise or money. People find it hard to say no.

"I get a rush when someone says yes," Grant said. "It's kind of like a football game when you make your first touchdown."

But even when he fumbles, Grant isn't discouraged.

"I'm out there making a difference," he said. "I feel confident. I'm not ashamed to say I'm disabled, and I like being around people."

Just by asking for the donation, Grant said, he has made a difference. "I get to meet a lot of people, and they get a chance to say, `Hey, he's just like me.'"

In addition to his volunteer work with the SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence, Grant works at Target. Technically, he said, he is security. Each morning employees must pass his scrutiny before entering the store. Venders and customers must wait until the store officially opens, he explained, and employees don't come in unless they're wearing the official Target red and khaki.

He also unpacks shoes, hands out coupons, retrieves carts from the parking lot and even uses a specially designed parking lot vacuum.

"When people look at me at work, my disability is not that noticeable," he said.

In addition to showing people who don't have disabilities what a disabled person can do if given a chance, Grant also serves as a role model for other disabled people.

"If I'm out there, it shows other disabled people that if I can do it they can do it too," he said.

When he sees a need, Grant steps in. For example, he helped organize a Parent Support Group for parents of children with disabilities. The group helps parents learn what may be possible for their children. Grant envisions the group coordinating job training programs for the disabled and at the same time working with businesses to cultivate job opportunities. "The most important thing is that no one ever downgrades them, as a child especially," he said. "I want everyone to have the same opportunities I have had."

Grant has turned over the reins for the support group to others. He has a new project. On June 22, the SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence will hold a resource fair at Arena Park from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Grant has a list of organizations he will be recruiting to participate. He is sure many will say yes.