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REACHING OUT

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t was a race to the top, ffty fights of stairs to climb to beneft The Up Center. Two teams represented ECPI University at the Step Up event on April 3 in Dominion Tower in Norfolk, Virginia. Together they raised $800 to support the cause.

The frst ECPI University team was comprised of Mike McCloughan, Campus President, ECPI University – Virginia Beach/Online, and members from Advanced Technology Institute, a sister school of ECPI University, including Dick Daigle, Campus President; Chenek Picka, Director of Education and Alan Hemingway. This ECPI University team won frst place in the corporate team division.

ECPI University Administration team took second place and included Nicole Myers, Desiree Hodge, Vicki Cope and Daniel Burke.

Step Up is a stair climbing competition and fundraiser that challenges participants to walk 25 fights of stairs (580 steps). There is the option to climb 25, 50 or 100 fights. The proceeds beneft The Up Center, a diversifed social services agency that serves more than 10,000 people in need in Hampton Roads. The Up Center helps children and families; people with disabilities; and adults in crisis.

ECPI University “Stepped UP” for the Hampton Roads Community

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t seemed like a small effort with a big heart to honor United States veterans. ECPI University and MCI, ECPI University’s School of Health Science, staff and students from Richmond and Newport News rallied to support Ride 2 Recovery (R2R) on May 30 through June 4.

Ride 2 Recovery is a partnership with the military and Virginia Volunteer Service Offce to beneft mental and physical rehabilitation programs for the country’s wounded veterans featuring cycling as the core activity. R2R raises money to help injured veterans overcome obstacles they face. Cycling is an activity almost all patients with mental and physical disabilities can participate and it helps speed the recovery and rehabilitation process.

Ride 2 Recovery Challenges are multi-day events that cover 350 to 450 miles. This particular Memorial Challenge had riders following historical roads departing Whipple Field at Arlington Cemetery to the fnal destination in Virginia Beach. Along the way, they passed Mt. Vernon, the home of the frst President George Washington, the famous civil war battlefelds of Manassas or Bull Run as the North called it, Fredericksburg, Mechanicsville, and the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond. Onto the heart of the Confederacy in Colonial America and the settlements of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown

stopping in the heart of the largest military bases in the United States.

ECPI University and MCI volunteers from Richmond and Newport News provided relaxating post-ride chair massages.

ECPI University and MCI Honors Veterans by Participating in Ride 2 Recovery

From left to right: Nicole Myers is a Marketing Analyst, Desiree Hodge is Human Resources Administrator, Vicki Cope is the Book Store Coordinator and Daniel Burke is Institutional Research Coordinator. They all work in college administration in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

From left to right, seated: Caprice Cross, Cathy Greene, Shinequa Stephens; standing: Catrina Saunders-Jackson, Kay Keene, Ashley White, Matthew Pritt, Jessica Kraemer, Michelle Fancher, Traci Brandenburg and Quayla Hilbert