Charity, Fraternity & Changing Lives

April 2007 marked several historic events for the Knights of Columbus wheelchair distribution program. 

This was the second year that a contingent of some 25 Knights and their wives traveled from California to Mexico City to distribute wheelchairs on the grounds of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Actually the wheelchairs and the mission of the Knights were prominently featured as a part of the high mass on a Sunday morning, including the first reading being delivered by Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the global order.  This mass was televised to more than 75 million homes in North and Central America, and was presided over by the Vicor General and Rector of the Basilica de Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Monsignor Diego Monroy Ponce.

This event was very special and inspirational on its own, but then came the wheelchair distribution.  Monsignor Ponce and Mr. Anderson participated in the hands on distribution of the wheelchairs, as did Mr. Andersons wife and daughter that accompanied him on this, his first wheelchair distribution.  It was an emotional and heart warming event.  A teenage girl named Funy that received her first wheelchair last year on the altar during the mass, read a letter to Mr. Anderson that described the love and affection she not only feels for the Knights, but that she feels from them.  She described the Knights, the Rotarians that serve as the distribution partners and the Wheelchair Foundation as angels.

This event was also the inaugural participation of the brand new Knights of Columbus council located at the Basilica of Guadalupe.  An enormous amount of effort went into the coordination of the mass and all of the special events that surrounded the distribution of the wheelchairs, and it was very well handled.  Overseeing the activity of the Mexican Knights was William Olivera, State Deputy for Southern Mexico who assisted greatly in the success of the mission.

Since 2001, the Rotary Club of Texcoco de Gante has served as the Wheelchair Foundations primary distribution partner for the Mexico City area, and has coordinated the most efficient and successful delivery of more than 3,000 wheelchairs to date.  The Rotarians have worked for two years now with the Knights from California and Mexico to handle all aspects of the wheelchair distributions with the utmost care and professionalism.  Ok, truth be told, the wives of the Rotarians are actually the ones that do most of the work, but the husbands lift the boxes and follow directions perfectly.  Club President Dr. Daniel Teliz spoke eloquently at the distribution ceremony about how organizations working together to benefit people in need can achieve any goals they may set.

California State Deputy Emilio Moure, Supreme Master Joseph Schultz and State Chaplain Fr. John Grace led the California delegation that included a number of veterans as well as many first time participants in the wheelchair program.
This event brought the number of wheelchairs sponsored by the Knights of Columbus to nearly 10,000 worldwide, and opened doors to an increased level of cooperation between Knights in North America and Knights in other parts of the world.  The Mexican councils have now pledged to raise the funds for half of the 280 wheelchairs per container to their local areas, and the Knights in North America will provide the balance.  The Rotarians have vowed to continue working with the Knights in the distribution process, and have offered to teach them the proven techniques so the Knights can eventually handle distributions on their own.

The Wheelchair Foundation team is very gratified to see great working relationships between organizations serve as the common thread upon which we all are providing Hope, Mobility, Freedom, Dignity and Independence to those in need.