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A Letter from Gao Shan

My name is Gao Shan, and I am 26 years old. Tragically, I incurred a leg disability due to the complications of my illness and the lack of timely treatment when I suffered from rheumatism at the age of 14. Having lost my ability to walk, I can’t take care of myself and I totally depend on my mother’s help. The only thing I can do is to stay in bed all day long and wait for her help. During the years of my illness, my mother transported me from one doctor to another for better medical treatment and depleted all of the family’s savings. The consequences were disappointing. My condition remains the same, and there is no change for the better. I am still disabled.

My mother has no more tears to cry while facing the penniless family and the unpromising disabled child. The door of my world has been closed firmly, for I have never been outside of my house, except for visits to the doctor, since my illness set in. An ordinary wheelchair is strongly desired by me and by my mother. I really miss the fresh air outdoors, the warm bright sunshine, and the flowing gentle breezes. I am eager for a wheelchair ride with my dear mother alongside me to talk with her, laugh together, and comfort her under the pleasing weather. But to a family in debt after paying treatment fees, a wheelchair has become a luxury out of reach.

At the moment we gave up all hope, the Heping District Disabled Persons’ Federation brought a piece of good news. They informed us that the Wheelchair Foundation would be visiting Shenyang to donate wheelchairs to the disadvantaged, giving them mobility, freedom and hope.

The next day, I was invited to participate in the donation and distribution ceremony at the City Square. I was so happy to be given the chance to address everyone on behalf of all the handicapped people and express our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude while sitting in my own wheelchair. To us, the wheelchair is our legs, enabling us to get out of the house and witness Shenyang’s huge changes and prosperity, and to enjoy the beauty of nature under the blue sky, which undoubtedly is good for our physical and mental health.

I would like to thank the Wheelchair Foundation’s charity and generosity which will encourage to me to face the future with a brighter heart and more optimism. I believe the world will become more and more wonderful with the love you share.

I wish a peaceful life to all kind people

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Marco DiGiulio helps deliver wheelchairs

During this holiday season many of us who are more fortunate give to charities to help out those who are in need. Over 150 million children, teens and adults worldwide are in need of a wheelchair but cannot afford one. Our own Chief Winemaking Overlord, Marco DiGiulio, was in Belize this past weekend to help Gordon Holmes of Wine for Wheels deliver wheelchairs to the people who desperately need them. Because of the generosity of wine lovers like you, someone now has mobility and freedom. Thank you.

If you’d like to sponsor an event to benefit the Wheelchair Foundation Mission check out www.wineforwheels.org.

SOURCE: Carpe Vino

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Clyde Beal: Group of local painters support Wheelchair Foundation among many other charities

If you’ve ever had the occasion to visit HIMG on Route 60 East, you’d have to admit, it would be nearly impossible to not become attached to at least one of the beautiful watercolor paintings there. Resembling a starving artist sale, the paintings adorn the long corridors leading to various offices. With all there shapes, sizes, colors, and subject matter, they seem to provide just the right effect for those visitors shuffling to and from their scheduled appointments. If your Christmas list places you in the market for that one special painting, it’s probably hanging around at HIMG.

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“The Praise Painters” get together on a typical Monday. 

Those paintings are all the work of a group who simply call themselves “The Praise Painters.” While the actual wall paintings at HIMG are not for sale, individual copies can be purchased by contacting Patty Dickey, who is the community resource coordinator at HIMG. Dickey said the pictures are quite popular and sales are good. “If you’re shopping for a painting as a Christmas gift, remember that it takes about a week for copies to be made,” said Dickey. Revenue from the art work sales goes into the Mountain State Wellness Fund which supports multiple non profit charities.

“Our Praise Painter group paints every Monday,” said Sunny Hammers, a retired Cabell County teacher who taught art classes for thirty years. “Our credo comes from an old Billy Joel song which goes something like: ‘It’s a pretty good crowd for a Monday, and they all come in with a smile. Cause you know it’s here that they want to be. To forget about life for a while.'”

They really don’t forget about life for a while. But come Monday mornings, they do adhere to the words of that song pretty close. They have been getting together like this for seven years now. Their number has grown from three ladies who love to paint, to over three dozen accomplished artists. They get together for the shear camaraderie that develops every time they meet. In fact, they have grown to the point that there is simply no more room for expansion.

While they do come together to paint, they are far more than the sum total of the finished art work they produce. As their paintings begin coming to life, life is being shared in its purest form.

“We’re more like family than anything else,” said Janet Vital. “We socialize, we exchange ideas, we laugh and grow together. We support each other, and all the while, we feel good about what we are about.”

Monday’s group is a diversity of skilled ladies who believe their name says it all. “We developed the name Praise Painters because we feel this is God’s work,” said Barbara Bozzay. They gather at Christ The King Lutheran Church on Route 60 East. They bring their water colors, their brushes, and their love of painting, and they share the morning. Their number is so great that the group is divided into two sessions, Thursday evenings and Monday mornings.

Most would consider the art accomplishments of this all volunteer group to be more than adequate to make a better community. However, the group feels they are capable of doing more — much more. In addition to spending hours to complete each painting, they support a number of other charitable agencies.

The group donates paintings to Faith In Action each year to help defray operating expenses. Paintings, along with paint supplies, are made into baskets that are auctioned off.

Rose Thornburg, Director of Faith in Action, says that the donated art work from The Praise Painters group is always well received.

“Their work is most professional and their donated items always do quite well when our auction begins. We need more groups like them.”

As a group, they donate three hundred dollars annually to the National Wheelchair Foundation for the purchase of two wheelchairs.

Another member of the group, Sue Hatcher, is director of an organization called Girls Place. “We meet once a week at Bates Presbyterian Church on East Pea Ridge. We invite girls between the 7th and 12th grades who need school help. We develop their self esteem, offer socialization with group crafts, and do community service projects as a group.”

Well, there you have it. A story about a group of mostly retired individuals who got together to fill the hours in their day, and ended up making their community a better place to live.

SOURCE: Herald-Dispatch

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International Wheelchair Foundation donates 35 wheelchairs to San Pedro

The International Wheelchair Foundation handed over wheelchairs to 35 people in San Pedro Town on Wednesday afternoon. The donation was made in a special ceremony at the San Pedro Town Central Park. Since 2006, The International Wheelchair Foundation has been visiting Belize and this year 206 wheelchairs will be distributed countrywide.

One of the volunteers of the International Wheelchair Foundation is Glenn Perry, who is a member of Sueño Del Mar. According to Perry, the international organization had donated over 800,000 wheelchairs in 140 countries. “Wheelchairs to us are the essence of goodness,” stated Perry. He added that, “it gives hope, it gives mobility and does not only change and individual and the family but also the community.”

The wheelchairs were assembled by the volunteers. Following the brief ceremony the wheelchairs were handed over to the residents and their families. The wheelchairs came in four different sizes and are originally made in China. Factory cost by wholesale is about US $150 but in Belize the same type of wheelchair is estimated at about $1000. The 50 volunteers are all from North Carolina in the USA. As part of their visit on the island, the San Pedro Lions hosted them to lunch just before the handing over ceremony.

SOURCE: San Pedro Sun

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