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Articles from the Wheelchair Foundation headquarters in Danville, CA and major news source outlets.

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Losing 200,000 Pounds in 2005 – Boston to Cincinnati

columbus_marathon_smallRyan Stroud will fulfill his NEW Years Resolution to LOSE 200,000 pounds in 2005.

In an effort to inspire others Ryan Stroud will begin a journey of extreme proportions.  On April 18, 2005 he will run the Boston Marathon and will continue to run 30 miles per day until he reaches Cincinnati, Ohio.  The goal for this journey is to sign up enough people to lose 200,000 pounds in 2005.  Not only will this effort benefit those of us who should run, it will also benefit those who can’t run. Ryan’s company Slimgreen, a daily dietary supplement for healthy living, will donate all proceeds raised on Ryan’s run to the Wheelchair Foundation in an effort to help those deprived of mobility throughout the world. Help Ryan help others to lose unwanted weight as well as grant the gift of mobility. To sign up for Ryan’s weight loss program or to donate to the wheelchair foundation please print, fill out, and mail in this form.

Ryan was recently featured in the Sports Illustrated “Faces in the Crowd” section with the following information:

Ryan Stroud
HARRISON, OHIO
Stroud, 34, president of a company that sells nutritional supplements and programs, ran 931.3 miles in 33 days, beginning with the Boston Marathon and continuing with a run from Boston to the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, to raise $20,000 for the Wheelchair Foundation

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Rotary Club of Pretoria East Delivers Hope to South Africa

man_recipient_pretoria_smallOn Sunday the 30th of January 2005 a group of Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Pretoria went to the Modisha (part of Moretele) Association for the Disabled (close to Winterveldt) in South Africa in order to hand over 12 wheelchairs to needy recipients.

Thank you very much to Rotary International, the Wheelchair Foundation, and all who were instrumental in making this possible.

Click on the image to the right or the link below to see a slideshow of this distribution of wheelchairs.

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Wheelchair Gift to Centenarian

What a happy occasion it was for this American couple Don Bennion (left) and Marlene (right) last Saturday (December 18) when they were able to gift a wheelchair to this 104 years centenarian M. P. Mary Nona in the HealthWatch coordinated Prof. Colvin Goonaratna Centenarian Study.

The presentation took place at the Malwana Home of the centenarian in Kelaniya, amidst her family gathering which included fourteen children, grand and great grandchildren.  Mr. and Mrs. Bennion are volunteer members of the Latter Day Saint (LDS) Charities of the United States, which together with the Wheelchair Foundation of the States made the donation. 

Mr. Bennion, a retired electronic engineer in Utah in the States said this was the first time in his life that he had met a centenarian. The oldest person he had met up to now had been a 90 year-old uncle of his.  Mr. Bennion, who feels honoured to have been able to gift a wheelchair to this centenarian, is amazed at her health status, even at this centenarian stage in her life, where she can clearly see without glasses, and thinking not impaired.

The Bennions greatly admired the way the centenarians children and young grandchildren were caring and looking after her. They felt that this is something that should be emulated by families in the developed world.  Mr. Bennion said, “What a blessing it is to have a centenarian in a family, and the rare opportunity to have to care for them and look into their needs. There is nothing greater on this earth than human life.”

The Bennions highly commended the HealthWatch coordinated Prof. Colvin Goonaratna Centenarian Study project.

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Hope to South Africa

2Container_300On Thursday, the 30th of December 2004, Rotary in Action Distract 9250 unloaded a Container filled with 287 Wheelchairs destined for three Pretoria Rotary Clubs. The wheelchairs were for a distribution among needy recipients in South Africa. After a long journey, these wheelchairs are being given to people whose lives will be changed by being grated the gift of mobility.

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This is the Beginning of the Beginning Again

“This is the beginning of the beginning again. I am so grateful,” said Jeanette Farnsworth who was among the first recipients of 1,120 wheelchairs that will be distributed in Utah over the next several months. Farnsworth, who has degenerative cerebral palsy, said her motorized wheelchair was destroyed in an auto-pedestrian accident five years ago.  The distribution of free wheelchairs is through a cooperative effort by The Wheelchair Foundation, Intermountain Health Care and the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation.

Bill Nelson, IHC’s president and chief executive officer feels strongly about every person’s right to mobility.

“There should be no one in the state of Utah who needs a wheelchair but doesn’t have one due to economic means.”

Ken Behring, former owner of the Seattle Seahawks, founded the Wheelchair Foundation in 2000. Since its inception, the foundation has given away more than 313,000 wheelchairs in some 130 countries around the world. 

“Many people think a wheelchair is not freedom, but a wheelchair is freedom and dignity,” Behring said during a press conference in Utah.

Behring told some of the touching experiences he’s had through meeting recipients, including a man who lived in the Gaza Strip.

The man, Behring said, crawled to the giveaway and after receiving the wheelchair, told foundation officials, “Now I am a man. I can look someone in the eyes.”

Muffy Davis, a four-time winter Paralympics athlete who was paralyzed in a skiing accident when she was 16 was at the distribution. Muffy shared her personal story of how a wheelchair has helped her life since the accident.

“I was devastated,” Davis said, explaining it had been her dream to be an Olympic champion in racing. “That was my thoughts and beliefs then, but I have changed my thoughts and beliefs. I now see these wheelchairs as the most liberating piece of equipment available.”

Mike Leavitt, the Former Utah Governor and his wife Jackie attended the distribution and helped Farnsworth and other Utah residents into their new wheelchairs. Jackie Leavitt has been a long time supporter of the Wheelchair Foundation and its mission. Her Husband Mike will soon Head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“This foundation’s goal is to eradicate immobility,” Leavitt said.

For further information regarding obtaining a free wheelchair in the state of Utah please call 877-378-3839 or apply at www.wheelchairfoundation.org/Utah.

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