Canadian troops in Southern Afghanistan recently hand-delivered 560 brand-new wheelchairs to Afghan citizens with physical disabilities. In a ceremony held at Camp Shirzai yesterday Surrey MP Russ Hiebert, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, thanked those involved in the project and recognized South Surrey resident and Executive Director of Wheelchair Foundation Canada, Christiana Flessner, for spearheading the project.
The aid project Operation Mobility was a joint effort between Wheelchair Foundation Canada and the Ministry of National Defence. Impetus for the project came via an initial donation of 100 wheelchairs by an anonymous donor, himself a veteran of WWII, in British Columbia, and grew quickly through the strong support from Rotary Clubs across the province.
In Afghanistan, two in ten adult men have lost legs to landmines or unexploded ordnance left over from conflicts in the past several decades, said Flessner. Through this hands-on delivery of life changing wheelchairs, our donors and soldiers are helping them regain their lives in an immediate and very tangible way.
Flessner continued, These wheelchairs will also allow physically disabled children to go to school, adults to go to work to provide for their families, and the elderly to get out of a bed that may have been their only existence for years, to now go outside and sit in the sun.
Wheelchair Foundation Canada is part of the global Wheelchair Foundation network that includes branches in the U.S., U.K., Australia & China. To date, over 550,000 new wheelchairs have been delivered in over 145 countries to physically disabled people that are without the means to acquire a wheelchair; more than 5,800 have been delivered so far in Afghanistan. A wheelchair delivers hope, mobility, freedom, independence and dignity.
For more information about how to sponsor wheelchairs for Canadian troops to deliver in Afghanistan, please visit www.wheelchairfoundation.ca or call toll free (866) 666-2411.
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