Articles from the Wheelchair Foundation headquarters in Danville, CA and major news source outlets.
James Swanson, past president of the Rotary Club of Clayton Valley/Concord Sunrise would like to thank the Wheelchair Foundation for donating a brand new wheelchair to Dick Peppin, who is also a member of the Rotary Club of Clayton Valley/Concord Sunrise.
Dick had been using a wheelchair on loan to him from the Salvation Army. Way to go to everyone who was involved!
David A. Kleng visited a mosaic shop in Madaba, Jordan when he witnessed one of the many miracles our foundation offers.
David tried to meet with the volunteer who provided the wheelchair but was unable to converse with or get the name of the volunteer. The volunteer who couldn’t be identified, was headed to the restroom and left on the bus before David could get the volunteer’s attention, which prevented David from meeting with the volunteer.
David submitted a photo of the wheelchair recipient and extended his greatest regards to our organization and mission letting us know he is a firm both.
Richard Guthrie’s mother has a penchant for movement in her wheelchair and damaged several walls in her home while bumping into them as she was watching TV. Richard of Early, Texas solved the problem by turning his mother’s wheelchair into a rocking chair.
Richard simply made a set of curved metal tracks – held together by two adjustable rods – just wide enough for the wheelchair’s two wheels.
“My mother rolls onto the tracks, then locks the wheels and it becomes a rocking chair,” says Guthrie. “It can be adjusted to fit any size wheelchair, is sturdy enough for any size person, and is simple enough for any do-it-yourself person to build. I could provide plans if there’s enough interest.”
Be sure to contact Richard if you need schematics to build your own wheelchair rocker.
Contact:
FARM SHOW Followup
Richard Guthrie
P.O. Box 3052
Early, Texas 76803
Phone: 325-646-4695
Dr. Lloyd Eubank-Green, former president of the Rotary Club of St. Andrew in Kingston, Jamaica has distributed over 1,000 wheelchairs to needy Jamaicans.
Since 2002, Dr. Eubank-Green has been partnered with the Wheelchair Foundation after being invited by Gregory Dix, President of the Rotary Club of New Jersey, to penetrate and widen the Wheelchair Foundation’s reach among the disabled communities in Jamaica. This allowed the Rotary Club of St. Andrew to acheive its mandate of “service above self” by extending its reach in the disabled communities in Jamaica.
Since 2002, the relationship has been growing. Mr. Green makes a ceremony out of each distribution. Representatives Alan Yott from the Wheelchair Foundation, Gregory Dix from New Jersey, Mark McLean from Wellington, Florida, and Kate Gaskill from Dania Beach, have taken part in the Jamaican distributions.
Local sponsors and partners such as the Jamaica Broilers Group, Jamaica National Building Society, Operation Friendship, the Ministry of Health and the media have all played a very important role in making the Wheelchair Foundation project a reality in Jamaica.
Due to the extraordinary generosity of our donors, the Wheelchair Foundation has delivered over 700,000 wheelchairs to children, teens and adults in 152 countries around the world since our establishment in June of 2000. Our program of delivering wheelchairs to developing countries has been accomplished in part by volume purchasing from competitive manufacturers at a rate of up to 10,000 wheelchairs per month. Despite rising costs of transportation and other expenses, we have worked very hard to keep the donation amount needed to sponsor a wheelchair constant over the past seven years. Several factors now necessitate a revision to our wheelchair sponsorship structure. Grant monies that were a major source of our combinable funding have been exhausted. The expense of delivering wheelchairs by ocean freight has sharply risen due to the enormous increases in fuel and other costs. The revised sponsorship structure is now comprised as follows:
Q: What are the advantages of offering the smaller container? A: For our donors, the cost of a smaller container represents a shorter fundraising timeframe and effort. Containers of 110 wheelchairs provide the opportunity for smaller organizations, companies and individuals to become involved in this humanitarian effort. For our partner NGOs in destination countries, smaller containers offer more options for storage and distribution of wheelchairs. Q: Why are the prices changing A: Since the establishment of the Wheelchair Foundation in June of 2000, we have worked diligently to keep the cost of the wheelchairs we deliver constant. Our website and promotional materials have solicited $75 donations, but also always stated that the average cost to purchase, ship and deliver a wheelchair worldwide is $150, and we have combined gifted funds with each new $75 donation to deliver a wheelchair, until those funds would be exhausted. We have now exhausted our government granted assistance, and costs such as raw materials and labor have increased to the wheelchair manufacturers. We have experienced dramatic increases in ocean and overland transportation costs because of fuel prices. In September 2007 we implemented a sliding sponsorship rate by region of the world and offered smaller containers to help deflect the additional costs. This was designed to service donors who could not provide the larger containers. The entire cost of worldwide distribution of a wheelchair from start to finish is $150. If you, your organization, or your corporation would like to sponsor a full container of wheelchairs to a specific country, you have the choice of two container sizes. Regardless of the size, all shipments include spare parts; custom logo embroidery; and Wheelchair Foundation’s legendary commitment to provide hope, freedom, and mobility to individuals in need and without access to wheelchairs.
Each donation we receive helps us deliver a wheelchair and supports our humanitarian mission. For each new $150 donation, the donor will receive a beautiful presentation folder with the photograph of a wheelchair recipient, and a certificate which thanks the donor for the gift made in the name of, honor of, or memory of a special person in their life. If you are interested in a specific country and/or wish to participate in a distribution trip, consider sponsoring an entire container of 100 to 280 wheelchairs. For those details, please contact our Operations Staff at (877) 378-3839 or in**@wh******************.org.