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Making Play Accessible for All With Team UP and Easterseals

Making Play Accessible for All With Team UP and Easterseals

Published 05-01-24

Submitted by Comcast Corporation

In recognition of Global Volunteer Month this April, we are proud to highlight the thousands of Comcast volunteers who are positively impacting their communities all year long through our national volunteer program, Team UP. Most recently, as part of our National Engineers Week celebration in February, hundreds of Comcast technologists volunteered to modify toys for children with disabilities alongside leaders from Easterseals, a national disability services nonprofit and longtime Comcast partner.

In Denver; Washington, D.C.; and Philadelphia, our Technology, Product, and Experience (TPX) employees worked collaboratively in small groups with local Easterseals staff and high school students to adapt nearly 200 toys that typically require fine motor skills to operate.

Three people stood around a table helping to modify toys for children with disabilities

Throughout the day, senior Easterseals representatives helped guide teams to the finish-line and shared what it means for Comcast employees to get involved with their mission. “Comcast’s support of Easterseals means equity, access, and inclusion. Comcast helps us unleash new communications options like eye gaze technology and iPads – it’s digital knowledge. They help our families engage with the world around them in ways they couldn’t before. It’s not just access, it’s independence,” reflected Liz Meckes, Director of Development, Easterseals of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

At Comcast, disability inclusion is at the heart of how we create experiences that everyone can enjoy. A valued partner in this work, Easterseals provides access to education, communication, community activities, and more for people with disabilities. Together, we are creating a world of unlimited possibilities where people of all abilities feel empowered to explore and discover the environment around them.

" "
Team UP volunteers and high school students in Philadelphia work together to modify a talking Minion toy to make it more accessible for children with disabilities.

Every child should have the opportunity to explore and play as a foundation of their learning and development. That’s what inclusive design is all about, and we’re grateful to Easterseals for being our partner in this important initiative.

TOM WLODKOWSKI 
VP, Accessibility, Comcast

Team UP’s year-round programming empowers employees to get involved and make a positive impact in our local communities through volunteerism, charitable giving, and board service training. In 2023, we had an outstanding year powered by Team UP’s foundational principle – our reach is maximized when our employees come together for the causes they care about.

2023 Team UP Impact:

12K+ Employees engaged

50K Volunteer hours

6K Organizations impacted

$6M In donations

two volunteers taking a photo together whilst holding a toy
Teammates proudly document their modified toys and share their stories online through our internal social channels.

In addition to volunteering, Comcast technologists spent National Engineers Week celebrating the launch of our Designed with Love campaign, showcasing our partnerships with FIRST Robotics teams across the country, and hosting our fifth annual BENgineers conference focusing on our Black engineers and their allies. We also provided STEM students from Cristo Rey High School with an insider look at our Philadelphia HQ, and our TECHWomen technology resource group hosted a podcast interview with one of our Project UP partners, Reboot Representation, highlighting their mission to increase the number of Black, Latina, and Native American women with computer science degrees.

Comcast is dedicated to helping train the next generation of engineers and we are proud to recognize our remarkable employees for their innovation and thoughtfulness in uplifting each other, and those who seek to join them. We look forward to another bright year ahead led by our passionate teammates who are supporting the communities where we live and work.

" "
In Denver, employees work together to make a toy lawnmower more accessible.

 

Charlie Herrin talking on stage
Charlie Herrin, President, Technology, Product, Experience, kicks off the day addressing the group of Philadelphia volunteers and speaking to the impact they are making.

 

Team UP volunteers working in small groups
Team UP volunteers in Denver worked in small groups with new and familiar faces to transform the way kids with disabilities interact with 5 of these toys.

 

A large group of volunteers holding modified toys
Altogether, 250 Team UP employees across three cities modified nearly 200 toys, enabling children of all abilities to enjoy playing with them.

 

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Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts.

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