Zech DeVits was someone you’d probably call larger than life.
It wasn’t just because he stood well over 7 feet tall due to being born with a rare genetic condition called gigantism and skeletal dysplasia, and the fact he was still over 6 feet riding in his wheelchair.
No, it’s because even though DeVits has been gone for almost 10 years, passing away at the age of 22 – just weeks before graduating with an associate degree from NHTI in 2005 – he’s still helping others.
“He was just the most service oriented guy,” said Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Chuck Lloyd, who knew DeVits quite well. “He’s just one of those people who paid it forward every day.”
It was 13 years ago when NHTI hosted its first wheelchair basketball game through an education course project where students raised funds to help refurbish DeVits’s wheelchair-accessible van. Now the fundraising event is held each year – in DeVits’s honor – to help other NHTI students with disabilities.
“He always needed repairs,” said Lloyd, who has played in the game every year. “And it was his idea cause he loved playing basketball. He brought a team from Granite State Independent Living, folks he was working with at the time.”
The money raised helps pay for assistive technology like text-to-voice and voice-to-text software, as well as smart pens, digital recorders and screen readers, to help make the educational experience a lot easier for those who need it.
“It varies from student to student as to what they apply for,” said Mindy Carlisle, a disability services specialist at NHTI.
Students, who must complete at least one semester to be eligible, can apply for anything that will help them in the classroom or doing school work at home. The more money raised, the more students it can help.
“It’s morphed into something big,” Lloyd said. “It’s helped hundreds of students. I don’t think you can envision a service project growing how it has.”
So if you’re not doing anything on Jan. 27 at 4 p.m., head on over to NHTI’s Goldie Crocker Wellness Center to watch what has proved year after year to be an entertaining game of faculty and students squaring off on the court – in wheelchairs of course. Admission is by donation and free for NHTI students.
“People are usually very generous,” Lloyd said.
The format of the game this year is a little different. In previous events, there was one team made up of NHTI employees that would take on students and members of Granite State Independent Living. This year, each of three dorms on campus will have a team and there will be a friendly competition to see which one can score the most points. Our guess is that the winner will likely have less than 10 points because if you’ve ever watched a wheelchair basketball game, it’s not that easy to get the ball through the hoop.
“If you shoot 30 to 40 percent when you’re standing up, you might shoot 2 to 3 percent sitting down,” Lloyd said.
There will also be three other teams made up of NHTI administration, staff, as well as some from Granite State Independent Living and other clubs and organizations. It will be confusing, but think of it like line changes in hockey.
“It will be mayhem,” Lloyd said.
But it doesn’t matter who wins on the court – unless you’re on one of those teams of course fighting for bragging rights – because really it’s the ones who get the much needed technology off of it that will come out on top.
“As much as we can offer to help them we do,” Carlisle said.
And we can’t forget about the silent auction, full of great stuff like gift certificates to local businesses and restaurants, handmade quilts, gift baskets, an NHTI rolling tote bag and many other items. The auction will be going during the game and winners will be announced later in the day at the men’s and women’s basketball games against College of St. Joe’s (Vermont). The women play at 6 p.m., followed by the men at 8 p.m.
The money raised through the wheelchair game admission and the silent auction will be matched by the NHTI student government.
So really, you could get there for the wheelchair game, make a couple bids on the auction items that are on your must have list, and stay for the doubleheader. Can you think of a better way to spend a Tuesday afternoon in January?
