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District 5170 Tri-Valley Evening Rotary Helping Provide Literacy and Mobility in Guatemala

Contributed by Sara Ennor and Glenn Tupper – Photos Glenn Tupper

The Tri-valley Evening Rotary’s Guatemala Wheelchair Distribution and Literacy Project 2023 aimed to provide mobility and promote literacy in Guatemala. The project distributed over 140 wheelchairs to poor and indigenous people in Guatemala City, Antigua, and surrounding villages with the help of experienced Rotarians and local clubs.

Norberta Sanchez Alvarez (above) is a 55-year-old polio survivor who has been confined to a basement room her entire life. Her father is her primary caregiver.  She was a seamstress and her father runs a small store to earn some money for food. Glenn donated a wheelchair that was the first-ever shot at mobility for her. Glenn spent time with her, held her hand, and told her she was loved.

Hugo Leonel Pineda is a 23-year-old who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. He is recovering at his mom’s house in a bare room. He was working in carpentry before the accident.

Santos Xingo Gomez is a 7-year old who is deformed from the waist down, suffers from severe metal disability, and has frequent outbursts of anger. His mother has two other children and on the way. A wheelchair is a big help for her.

Demetrio Hernandez Lopez is an 81-year-old man who lives in a shack and was injured in a ladder accident 24 years ago. He is paid to watch over a property and keep vagrants/squatters away. His wife died three years ago from an infection sustained in a traffic accident. He has a super busted up wheelchair that he manages to drag with his feet. Receiving a new wheelchair is a life-changing event and will better allow Demetrio to exist with greater ease. He is a kind gentleman with a sweet smile. – Glenn Tupper

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Guatemala Wheelchair Trip 2018

Alexa Michna & Augie Byllott of Creating Wealth USA started fundraising last October and raised enough money to deliver an entire container, 280 wheelchairs to Guatemala. Their group of 25 individuals that included teens and adults, made the trek and personally delivered the wheelchairs along with a number of gifts for the local communities. Thank you to all of those involved with this distribution. 

If your organization would like information on how you can begin fundraising for wheelchairs, you can find our contact information HERE.

The need is still great! To see our current campaigns and to make a donation, please click the Donate Now button below.

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Nicaragua Wheelchair Distribution 2014

Josh Burroughs began his legacy of supporting Wheelchair Foundation in his college days at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California.  In August of 2008, Josh was a team leader among a group of students who traveled to Peru to distribute 400 wheelchairs.  The students purchased these 400 wheelchairs through a year’s worth of work as a class project.  Josh was totally overwhelmed by the powerful, life-changing experience of placing someone in a wheelchair, and from that point on, committed to continuing this wonderful work.

In 2014, Josh along with the Silicon Valley Rotary Club visited Nicaragua for a wheelchair distribution. This was in partnership with Los Pipitos and the Wheelock Family. Included the installation of new bathrooms, a new potable water system and purchase of educational supplies for the Las Iguanas School for low income children.

Take a moment and watch this touching video that Wheelchair Foundation just received. Thank you Josh, Silicon Valley Rotary Clubs and all of our wonderful supporters!

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Celebrating 11 Years of Hope, Mobility & Freedom!

June has always been a special month for the Wheelchair Foundation, and 2011 was certainly no exception. Since the year 2000, we have been providing wheelchairs to adults, teens, and children in need and have changed the lives of more than 850,000 people in 153 countries in an effort to distribute at least one million wheelchairs worldwide. Thanks to the generous and continued support of our donors, we’re closer than ever to reaching that goal. On Monday, June 13th, the Wheelchair Foundation proudly celebrated its 11th anniversary, with over a decade of delivering hope, mobility, and freedom around the world.

Rotary and Wheelchair Foundation

Kenneth E. Behring, founder of Wheelchair Foundation, with Smithsonian bust and its sculptor, Marc Mellon.

As the Wheelchair Foundation enters another year, we mark this special occasion by reflecting on how much we’ve accomplished and by looking ahead to what we hope the future will hold.

The history of the Wheelchair Foundation is an inspiring lesson of how one person can make an incredible difference in the lives of others and effect a positive change in the world. It began with one man – a man who embodies the spirit of giving with his kindness and compassion, who believes that history is an integral part of education, benefitting all generations who learn from the past.

The vision of Kenneth E. Behring, founder of the Wheelchair Foundation, became an international cause that would improve the lives of thousands of disadvantaged people across the globe. Guided by Mr. Behring’s core values as a patriot, humanitarian and philanthropist, the Wheelchair Foundation forges ahead with commitment for another successful year of delivering Hope, Mobility, and Freedom.

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VIDEO – Kenneth E. Behring explains why he feels National History Day is so important to the education of today’s students.

Kenneth E. Behring received an honor few living men have known on June 15th, when the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. unveiled a bronze bust immortalizing the great philanthropist for his outstanding contributions to that institution. Cast in his likeness by one of America’s foremost representational sculptors, Marc Mellon, the larger-than-life sized work of art stands on the second floor of the National Museum of American History.

This award honors Mr. Behring’s $80 million gift in 2000 and his $20 million contribution in 1997 to the National Museum of Natural History. Mr. Behring attended the unveiling ceremony with his son, David Behring, president of the Wheelchair Foundation, in Washington D.C.

The Behrings were also in town for the final round of competition in the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest. Each year, more than half a million students participate by choosing historical

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topics related to a theme which they ultimately present in the form of original papers, websites, exhibits, performances and documentaries. After spending months on research and preparation, their projects are entered into competitions at local and state levels, and the program culminates in a national competition each June held at the University of Maryland at College Park.

The children who take part in this event develop an appreciation for history – a quality that Kenneth E. Behring, as the primary sponsor, regards as invaluable.

For more information on the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest, visit http://www.nhd.org

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