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Dear Friends,

As I write my annual holiday letter, l am impressed at how far the world has progressed regarding COVID-19 compared just one year ago. Hospitalization and fatality rates have plunged, and we are gaining a much better understanding of this complicated disease. Most of the world is no longer afraid to visit friends, go to work, or travel. Although China still follows a “zero tolerance” protocol, it remains the exception rather than the rule. Globally, we are learning to “live with COVID-19” and continue to lead as normal of a life as we can.

youngboyinwheelchair

At Wheelchair Foundation, we are excited to be traveling to distributions because it is so important to be with wheelchair recipients and their families as they receive your much-needed Gifts of Mobility. Many of our donors and partners have made recent trips to Latin America and Africa. In early August, over 20 college classmates and I returned from a week-long trip to Peru, having joined with a dozen local Rotarians from Lima, who have acted as our partners and hosts since we started making this trek in 2002. During that week, we changed the lives of 500 individuals in towns in the high Andes that most people have never heard of due to their remote locations. Following International guidelines and the overall concern and safety for everyone, we wore N95 masks at the wheelchair distributions; I will say there is no substitute for the gratitude you receive from recipient families as they celebrate the instantly improved life of their loved ones. You might not have seen the physical smiles, but you could certainly detect the emotion in their eyes.

In the last week of September, 22 American Rotarians and I completed five distributions in Romania and Serbia. Again, we partnered with local Rotarians in those two countries, helping the physically disabled that do not have access to a wheelchair. Over 1,600,000 Ukrainians have passed through Romania since Russia invaded their country, with nearly 90,000 now calling Romania home. We anticipated that a relatively large number of these refugees would need wheelchairs; we were not prepared for just how great the need was. We delivered over 1,000 wheelchairs to children and adults in those two countries and your donations will continue to support individuals there and those around the world that lack the basic human right of mobility.

We launched Wheelchair Foundation in June 2000 with a ask of $150 to sponsor a new wheelchair. Despite many manufacturing and shipping price increases, we were able to maintain that level for 22 years. However, with the recent global rise in shipping and manufacturing costs, we are unable to provide wheelchairs at that amount, and the new price for a wheelchair will be $200 starting on October 1, 2022. If an individual or organization wishes to sponsor container quantities of wheelchairs, we will continue our policy of matching our partners dollar-for-dollar. In short, the donor contributes $28,000, and we grant the other $28,000. We thank you for your loyal support in helping us deliver over 1,160,000 wheelchairs across the globe, it is an incredible achievement that we can all take pride in.

Choose the gift of mobility this holiday season by dedicating gifts to your friends and family and sponsoring wheelchairs in the name, honor or memory of someone you love. For your donation of $200, you will receive a beautiful presentation folder with a photo of a recipient, and a personalized certificate thanking or honoring that special person in your life.

With your gift of $100 or more, we will send you a white triple-function pen with flashlight and stylus as a reminder of your generous donation. As an additional token of our appreciation, we will include our insulated grocery tote along with our 6xflip, 5000mah power bank, when you generously donate $500 or more.

No shopping, wrapping or shipping! Simply call us directly at 877.378.3839, or donate right here through our website. If you choose to send your donations in via traditional mail, send them to Wheelchair Foundation, 3820 Blackhawk Road, Danville, CA 94506. Please make your donations by December 10th to allow sufficient time for us to prepare and mail your customized presentation folders.

We at the Wheelchair Foundation are exceedingly grateful for your decision to provide the gift of mobility and allow us to continue the mission of reaching those in need around the world. Thank you for your generous support for those who are less fortunate than we are.

Happy Holidays!

We received the amazing story and photos below from Glen Mather and our partners from ChairTheLove.org in Florida.

It’s Just a Wheelchair Like Any Other

“The hurricanes last year have turned our Bahamian Islands upside down, and we have a desperate need for wheelchairs”.   We got the e-mail back in November 2020, right in the teeth of Covid-19.  The ability to distribute the wheelchairs with our donors was not possible, but we could feel the desperation in their message.

The note came from the area Rotarians, always willing to help and partner with Chair the Love worldwide to assist us in providing mobility to the neediest.  Unable to ignore their plea, our generous donors, combined with others from the Wheelchair Foundation, pulled together the funds to purchase an entire container of Wheelchairs (280), to be delivered directly from the factory to the Bahamas.

Because large crowds were discouraged by Covid restrictions, the chairs were given out, many just one-by-one, at the homes of the recipients.  Our Rotarian friends provided to Chair the Love a continual stream of photos, each one more touching than the last.

Prince William pushing a boy in a wheelchairOne of the distributions resulted in two chairs winding up at the Grand Bahama Children’s Home in Freeport.  This amazing facility provides for 32 children from infants to 14 whose parents are unable to care for their development or physical needs.  It is there that our donated Wheelchair and the dear young boy sitting in it met the Prince, yes Prince William.

It seems that the Prince, together with Princess Kate were in the Bahamas for a goodwill tour of several Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean.   Evidently, Prince William was as taken as we were at Chair the Love with this young man and his joy.  The story and photos were featured in news features both on Yahoo and Fox News.

It just served to underscore the impact that each one of our donors have to change the lives of others, mostly outside the purview of a Prince and Princess.

These are the same faces we see on every distribution, and due to many of you, we will give thousands more this year the same gift of mobility.

Prince William speaking with a young boy in a wheelchair

All of us at Wheelchair Foundation are exceedingly grateful for your continued support throughout this year, which has continued to prove challenging for many people. Due to your continued support in being one of our partners in mobility along with your generous contributions, we were able to complete a number of distributions to different parts of the world including right here in the United States as well as Ecuador, Venezuela, Uganda, and more. With your generosity, we were able to provide nearly 10,000 wheelchairs to individuals in need! Below are just a couple of stories from recipients that we were able to deliver mobility to in 2021.

A few weeks ago Wheelchair Foundation received an e-mail from someone here in the United States saying they had a relative in Venezuela with a six-year-old son named Abraham who has Cerebral Palsy and needed a wheelchair. We contacted Federica, one of our in-country partners in Venezuela, who happened to be receiving our next container of wheelchairs in early December. On December 22, Federica delivered the wheelchair just in time for Christmas providing not only young Abraham (pictured left) with the basic right of mobility with his new wheelchair, but with the gift of hope to move around freely.

We traveled to Ecuador and met Jorge (pictured right), who had lost his right leg from diabetes. He was lucky enough to have adult children to care for him, for which he was so grateful. However, it can be an emotional burden as a parent to have to depend on your children. This man’s two adult children would share the responsibility because they both had children of their own and they had to work to support not just their families, but their father as well. The man did not hold back his tears as we lifted him into his new wheelchair. “Now I do not have to rely on my children for everything.” He said between sobs. The emotional burden was lightened for this man on that day. He was now able to do many things on his own, and his children were free to work to better support their families. ~In the photo, Left: Cody Christman, back: Craig Fryer, right: Heather Schomaker

If you’ve already donated, THANK YOU!! This is a gentle reminder that you have a couple of more chances to make a tax-deductible donation for 2021

Thank you again for your support, it’s been an honor to serve with you.

Sincerely,

Wheelchair Foundation

P.S. Want to make a 2021 tax-deductible donation via check, but concerned it won’t get to us in time? No worries! Any donations in envelopes postmarked by 12/31 will count as a 2021 tax-deductible donation. Our address is listed at the bottom of this email.

Dear Friends,

As the 2021 year draws to a close most of us feel a sense of frustration and anxiety with both the length and breadth of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has not faded into the rear-view mirror as expected or hoped and it continues to disrupt lives and businesses in so many different ways. So many people have been tragically taken from us – often without being able to say “I love you” or “Goodbye”. Weddings, vacations, school activities, family get-togethers, and special events keep getting pushed further back into the calendar and nobody can predict what will happen in 2022. We pray that it will be much better.

We know this too well because we just made the difficult decision to postpone the 20th Anniversary for the Wheelchair Foundation for the fifth time since the pandemic began. We had planned a wonderful celebration with a great dance band to honor Don Routh, Josh Routh, and Bill Wheeler at the Blackhawk Museum. During the last two decades, these three men have helped fund and personally deliver tens of thousands of wheelchairs to over 20 countries. Our organization felt that there was still too much risk to the health and well-being of 300 attendees and staff in an enclosed space for an extended period of time in spite of setting up all of the necessary protocols.

It will now become our 22nd Anniversary and we have so much to celebrate. In addition to providing free wheelchairs to over 1,150,000 individuals across the globe, we have enjoyed successful and lasting partnerships with thousands of Rotary clubs, NGOs, religious organizations, governments, foundations, individuals, schools, corporations, and other groups. We have always delivered the wheelchairs regardless of the myriad of logistical challenges that can appear out of left field. We also take pride in knowing the indelible impact that our donors, our partners, and the Wheelchair Foundation have had on these recipients, their friends, and their family members.

With the holidays approaching, we want everyone to cherish their health, their family members, their friends, their communities and make sure to extend a hand to someone less fortunate than you. COVID-19 has changed all of our lives forever and we should never take anything for granted. God bless everyone.

Choose the gift of mobility this holiday season by dedicating gifts to your friends and family and sponsoring wheelchairs in the name, honor, or memory of someone you love. For your donation of $150, you will receive a beautiful presentation folder with a photo of a recipient, and a personalized certificate thanking or honoring that special person in your life, along with our 3 Ply Cotton reusable, face mask to remind you throughout the year of your generous donation.

Donations in any dollar amount help change the lives of those who are less fortunate and in need of mobility. With your gift of $100 or more, we will send you a candy apple red triple-function pen with flashlight and stylus. Show your support for Wheelchair Foundation and introduce new individuals to our mission by carrying our 24-Can Highland Backpack Cooler when you generously donate $500 or more.

No shopping, wrapping, or shipping! Simply call us directly at 877.378.3839, donate online through our website (WheelchairFoundation.org), or use the enclosed envelope to donate by mail. Please make your donations by December 10th to allow sufficient time for us to prepare and mail your customized presentation folders.

We at the Wheelchair Foundation are exceedingly grateful for your decision to provide the gift of mobility and allow us to continue the mission of reaching those in need of mobility around the world. Thank you for your generous support of those who are less fortunate than we are.

Happy Holidays!

David Behring

We are remembering with great fondness Wheelchair Foundation President, David Behring’s trip-of-a-lifetime, the opportunity to join a group of volunteers and chaperone a Veteran on an Honor Flight to Washington, D. C. to see the memorials built in honor of their service and sacrifice in support of democracy.

~ by David Behring

Over the years the Wheelchair Foundation has furnished wheelchairs to Honor Flight Network chapters throughout the country. This non-profit organization’s mission is to provide all-expense-paid trips for World War II veterans back to Washington, D.C so that they can visit their memorial along with Arlington Cemetery and other memorials related to military service.

Every veteran is assigned a guardian to assist him or her on the trip. Since most of these veterans are at least 90 years old, the wheelchair makes it much easier to both rest and be pushed by the guardian. A “wheelchair brigade” of volunteers would file out first from the bus at each stop and set up the wheelchairs. It ran very efficiently and the veterans greatly appreciated the convenience. It was quite a sight to see our group of 26 veterans in red shirts and jackets in red wheelchairs against the background of the white WWII Memorial.

In September I had the honor and privilege to be a guardian on Bay Area Honor Flight #4 and accompany Frank Carli, a Navy Seabee who spent time at Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima.

As an ardent student of WWII history, I loved meeting and talking to these men and women who helped save the world from tyranny. From the time we left San Francisco very, very early on a Thursday morning to our return on Saturday night, the patriotism and support from people was unbelievable.

Large crowds greeted us at the airports with flags, banners, and cheering. School kids would gather around the veterans and want their pictures taken. A police escort accompanied our bus during the entire trip.

One of the most poignant parts of our Honor Flight was V (for Victory) Mail Night when they received mail from their family members and friends as well as letters of gratitude from strangers such as students, Boy Scouts, and young veterans. One could not help but get emotional watching these veterans carefully read a dozen or so letters of appreciation. Many of the veterans re-read those letters on the flight home.

I am glad that we were able to play a small role in making the trip easier for these courageous and patriotic men and women who served our country so well 70 years ago. As Frank told me at the end of the trip, “I cannot begin to tell you how unbelievable and emotional this trip has been. Being with the guys, hearing the cheers, walking the memorials – the experience was far beyond anything I expected.”