The Wheelchair Foundation, a division of Behring Global Educational Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable foundation, has a goal to provide a free wheelchair to every child, teen and adult worldwide who needs one but has no means to acquire one.
VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR. HITS A GRAND SLAM IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
In addition to giving the gift of mobility to over 1.2 million men, women, and children around the world the Wheelchair Foundation is blessed wi
th great partners that help with their time, talent and resources. Last December these partners,Prime Sports Management and Major League Baseball’s All-Star first baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his Foundation, delivered a container of wheelchairs to the Dominican Republic.
Joining myself was David Behring (President of the Wheelchair Foundation ), Matt Beinke (Board Member), Scott Ford (Wheelchair Foundation Florida), Bart Hernandez and Scott Shapiro (Prime Sports Management) who helped organize the distribution with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. along with Marlene Garcia from Vladimir’sFoundation.
TYTANOVI
This is a very unique rehabilitation center in Kyiv where veterans are fitted by bionic prostheses from titanium, a metal which is strong, light, corrosion-resistant, and durable, just like the young men who are training here. Yes, some of them are very young; some have never been on a date. The wheelchairs we brought here are badly needed, but the heroes in this place have no intention of spending their lives in them. Each one dreams of standing on new titanium legs and achieving more in this life with titanium arms, hands, and fingers.
For now, that dream is on hold. First, they must heal, as they wait to be fitted with new limbs. The stitches must heal, the sores from the surgical installation of new prosthetics and metal parts protruding from bones and stumps must heal, the atrophied muscles must be strengthened. It’s work, but they work at it joyfully, racing in wheelchairs, playing basketball, tag, and agility games, and lifting weights. They are training hard for their brothers who are still on the front.
And they are taught another important lesson: they must become independent. They learn how to live, take care of themselves, play sports, cook their own food, and even feed themselves without help.
In the lab here, they are performing scientific and industrial miracles. They’ve already been to an exhibition in Germany, impressing world-class prosthetics manufacturers with their ingenuity, practical skill, and sheer will power. They assemble prosthetics from parts of various global brands, German, Belgian, Korean, American, giving these artificial hands or legs movement, life, function, and utility.
These guys laugh at what others would call hopelessness or difficulty, and when you’re tempted to pity them, they correct you and comfort you, saying, “Don’t worry. After all, here, Tytanovi!” (A play on words in Ukrainian. The phrase means both ‘titanium’ and ‘You are new!’) And indeed, they are new people—people to whom we will forever be indebted for our right to live, speak our native language, work, be friends, and serve.
Peter TUHAIENKO from Kyiv
Peter worked his entire life as a mechanic. He was on his feet all day long. Sooner or later, his legs started to hurt. At first, this responsible man pa
id no attention to what seemed like insignificant problems at the time but it ended with an amputation. Since then, Peter has not been able to move around on his own. But, when it rains it pours, and war came to Ukraine. On the night of August 15, a night like so many since then, Brovary district near Kyiv was hit.
Debris from falling missiles buried people who were sleeping in their homes, among them a man and his 4-year-old son. They were Peter’s son Zhenya, and his grandson, Maksimka. We have no words to express the pain that the grandparents are going through, and there is little we can do to bring back Zhenya and Maksimka, and still a timid smile lit up the faces of the elderly couple when they unpacked the wheelchair and Peter was helped into it by strangers-become-friends from faraway America and the Rotary Club of Kyiv-City. This we can do.
Changing Lives and Making new Friends in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
On July 8th, 2023 the Wheelchair Foundation and Wine for Wheels held a Country Hoedown fundraiser at the beautiful Blackhawk Museum. We had super fun bands: Singer/Songwriter Sadie Bass played outside to welcome everyone and The Brodie Stewart Band played while we danced the night away and enjoyed the amazing evening while raising money. During the auction we offered a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to distribute wheelchairs and that started our amazing adventure.
More than 24 people signed up for the distribution trip, and the wheelchairs were ordered. Fondo Unido and the Rotary Club of Puerto Vallarta Sur were instrumental in clearing our wheelchairs with our own Eva Carleton. David Behring, our President, Jeff Behring, Co-founder of Wine for Wheels and I immediately started working with Luz Maria Ortiz with the Rotary Club of Puerto Vallarta Sur to set up this life-changing mission.