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hour_of_powerKenneth E. Behring, philanthropist and founder of the non-profit Wheelchair Foundation, appeared April 18 for the second time with Reverend Robert A. Schuller on the television program “Hour of Power,” broadcast from the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA.

Mr. Behring first met Reverend Schuller a year ago when he visited the Crystal Cathedral. The two have since traveled together to participate in wheelchair distributions around the world.

“I was very honored to appear on the “Hour of Power” at the Crystal Cathedral with Dr. Schuller,” said Mr. Behring.  “Our messages are similar as we both are trying to help people and give hope to people throughout the world.”

The Wheelchair Foundation was established in 2000 with a grant from the Kenneth E. Behring Foundation.  Since its inception, it has delivered more than 225,000 wheelchairs in over 120 countries, with a goal of delivering one million wheelchairs in the next five years.

“When I interviewed him here last year, I discovered the tremendous need that the world has for wheelchairs,” said Reverend Schuller during Sunday’s broadcast.  “It is of epidemic proportions, but today there is somebody doing something about it.”

People with physical disabilities throughout the world require the use of a wheelchair for many reasons including accidents, birth defects, war injuries, debilitating diseases and advanced age.  An estimated 100 to 150 million physically disabled people worldwide need wheelchairs, though less than 1 percent own or have access to one.

Experts predict that individuals who need a wheelchair worldwide will increase by 22 percent in the next 10 years, with the greatest need existing in developing countries.

The Wheelchair Foundation and its partners are working to help ease the burden of those in need.

CLICK HERE to view the Hour of Power video clip

The “Ship of Hope” is about to deliver its long-awaited cargo. The vessel will be carrying 280 wheelchairs to be distributed to disabled people of southeast Turkey. This noble venture is the final culmination of the dreams of two women: an American, Jeni Grossman of Phoenix, Arizona, and her Turkish-American counter-part, Meltem Birkegren of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
The Ship of Hope is the successful undertaking of these two ladies. Their tireless work is evidence of their compassion for people who do not have access to the most basic necessities of life.  With matching donations from Kenneth Behring’s Wheelchair Foundation headquartered in California, and partnering with Beyoglu Rotary Club in Istanbul, the women raised the $21,000 required to buy and ship the 280 wheelchairs to Turkey.  (Wheelchair Foundation keeps the cost of wheelchairs down by purchasing them in lots of 280). 

The recipients of these life-enhancing vehicles are anxiously waiting for the arrival of their wheelchairs. The Ship of Hope will reach its destination during the month of June, 2004.  Not only the disabled, but their parents, children, relatives, and friends are anxiously awaiting the chance to take their loved ones for a stroll around the neighborhood or to the store or to visit friends.  Some of the wheelchairs will help youngsters attend school for the first time.

Grossman’s Son Was An Inspiration

Jeni Grossman has been enamored with the country of Turkey ever since her husband Gary taught at Middle East Technical University (ODTU) in Ankara, Turkey on a Fulbright scholarship. Gary and Jeni have a disabled son, Zach, who is about to graduate from Northern Arizona University.  While Gary was teaching in Turkey and Zach was attending college back home, Jeni criss-crossed Turkey seeing the sights and writing her third novel which is set in Southeast Turkey.  She fell in love with the enchanting land of Turkey.  But despite its charms and fascinating history, Jeni also witnessed first-hand the many disabled people who were in need of wheelchairs. She says, “I knew that a simple chair with wheels had made all the difference in my son’s life and in my life as his mother. A wheelchair equals freedom.  Anyone who cannot walk deserves to have one.” She made a simple promise to every disabled person she met: you will soon have a wheelchair of your own. At the time, Jeni had no idea how she would provide the chairs.  At first, her Turkish translator refused to give her messages of hope to the disabled people because Jeni had no idea how she would make good on her promises.  So she made another promise to the translator: somehow she would find a way.

“Turkish people are so proud.  They would rather carry their disabled relatives and children on their backs rather than beg for a hand-out.  When the youngsters got too big to be carried by their parents, they crawled on dirt floors.  Turkish communities were often unaware of the needs of the disabled because the disabled were kept indoors.  So, because they were so proud, someone had to do the “begging” for them.” She started by contacting Turkish-American Associations and many of her American friends to tell them about the need for wheelchairs in southeast Turkey. 

Just as her son was able to do, Jeni wanted to see the disabled of southeast Turkey sit upright in brand new wheelchairs of their very own.  She thought they had every right to be included in their communities, and eventually be counted among the productive people of Turkey.
Another Angel of Mercy

A well-known and equally hard-working angel lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Her name is Meltem Birkegren. Meltem was born in Turkey and even though she has been living and working in the USA for a long time, her heart never left her birthplace. Meltem, a real dynamo, has always been involved in all kinds of interesting projects. She is the proud organizer and president of a heavy duty machinery parts company known as “Danex International, Inc”. She is also the vice-president of Turkish Forum, an online inter-global grassroots organization with a phenomenal reader-membership approaching 200,000 world-wide. Her other favorite cause has been her Chairmanship for Turkey at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Sister Cities International Organization (GFLLSCI). The Turkish province of Mugla on the Aegean, is one of the 13 sister cities of Ft Lauderdale. In 2002, Meltem conducted a campaign to raise money and then distribute 240 wheelchairs in Mugla, Turkey. This was accomplished with the help of the Wheelchair Foundation of California, Turkish community particularly in Florida, members of GFLLSCI, and Istanbul Rotary Club.

Jeni and Meltem Get Together
Jeni Grossman, who heard about the successful campaign for the people of Mugla, got in touch with Meltem Birkegren in Florida by e-mail. This contact was the beginning of a lasting friendship between the two women. In fact, their association went beyond the limits of their favorite subject of charity work. Both of them love Turkey with a passion and do all they can to encourage tourism and interest in Turkey. While Meltem was visiting Turkey on other business, the women had dinner together and discussed project ideas. Then they kept in touch, often e-mailing each other several times a day.  Together, Meltem and Jeni accomplished a miraculous labor of love. They teamed up with two social workers from the GAP Region (the Turkish acronym for “Southeastern Anatolian Project“) and they all worked through the GAP women’s organizations known as CATOMs which are “Multi-Purpose Community Centers”.  The women located every disabled person in eighteen small and large cities of southeast Turkey.  Once the funds were raised, the Wheelchair Foundation arranged to transport the 280 wheelchairs by ship to Turkey.  Once the cargo reaches Turkey, customs clearance, transportation to the final destination of the wheelchairs will be handled by the Beyoglu Rotary Club.  Ceremonies will be held by local governments for the distribution of the wheelchairs to the pre-assigned recipients.

True Friends Find Others Willing to Help
Jeni Grossman and Meltem Birkegren started with that simple promise to the disabled people of southeast Turkey.  They worked hard and took as their motto: “God helps those who help themselves.” Jeni and Meltem now believe the disabled people themselves will soon find out that: “God helps those who help themselves”.  The wheelchairs will help the disabled go to school and get jobs and take care of their families. They can help themselves—with the help of God.

Open Hearts and Lines of Communication

The lines of communication between Jeni and Meltem worked like a well-oiled clock. The ladies consecrated a portion of their own lives to accomplish great things on behalf of others. They knocked on doors, begged for funds, used web sites, mailed letters and e-mails, distributed brochures, held fundraisers and conducted information events—and then depended on others to respond generously. 
Jeni and Meltem attest to the fact that their requests for help were rarely refused.  The hearts of others sung in tune with their own and a great project was accomplished.  The women wish to thank people all over America who helped them send these wheelchairs to the people of Turkey on the Ship of Hope.

“Saudi Arabia is a longtime friend of the United States, and the countries could cooperate with each other to help the disabled people in the Middle East,” said Kenneth E. Behring, president of the US-based Wheelchair Foundation.

Behring, who is on a tour of the region, added that Saudi Arabia occupies a strategic location in the region from where several neighboring countries could be well served.

In Riyadh he met with Prince Sultan ibn Salman, chairman of the Disabled Children’s Association, and also visited the Prince Sultan Humanitarian City here.

Although it was his first visit to the Kingdom, Behring said it was clear that Saudis were generous people. “I could read the minds of the people from the state-of-the-art equipment they donated at the Disabled Center in Riyadh,” he said.

Behring’s foundation, established four years ago, donates wheelchairs to the needy around the world. “There are 150 million people in the world who cannot afford to buy wheelchairs,” he said.

As Staff Sgt. Heath Calhoun wheels his chair up and down the basketball court, it’s clear he enjoys a good game of hoops – and working up a sweat.

Although this is the first time he has played basketball from a seated position, it doesn’t take him long to get into the mix. After a little instruction from some experienced wheelchair basketball players, Calhoun is soon maneuvering in front of an opponent, pulling down a pass and then swiftly dribbling the ball upcourt.

Calhoun’s wife, Tiffany, and son, Mason, 23 months, cheer him on.

Like the dozen or so other amputee patients participating in the wheelchair basketball clinic here at Walter Reed Medical Center, Calhoun, was wounded in Iraq. A member of the U.S.Army’s 101st Airborne, he lost both legs in a Nov. 7 in Mosul.

At Walter Reed for the past six months, Calhoun, 24, has undergone therapy, rehabilitation and instruction in using a pair of high-tech titanium prosthetic legs with hydraulic knees. As he grows stronger and more confident with the devices, Calhoun says he looks forward to walking unassisted with Mason and playing ball together.

Supporters and organizers of the basketball clinic, which is sponsored by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), its Paralympics Division and the Wheelchair Foundation, want Calhoun to get ready for that father-son game and any other activity he can imagine.

“Sports allow you to test yourself, to challenge yourself, to work with others and better understand your disability. But most importantly, it helps you learn what your abilities are,” Gordon Mansfield, deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs, told Calhoun and the other participants and their families at the clinic in March, the first of several scheduled at Walter Reed. The next is set for June 8.

The journey after a disabling injury is tough, Mansfield says, but it needn’t be traveled alone.

An outreach effort spearheaded by U.S. Paralympics is trying to make sure that returning soldiers with physical disabilities get connected with sports and fitness programs in their communities.

“When they leave here, we don’t want them to feel all alone,” says Cheryl Barnes, executive director of the Wheelchair Foundation’s chapter in Washington, D.C. “We want to plug them in, keep them active.”

Says John Register, a Gulf War veteran, two-time Paralympic Games athlete and manager of the Paralympic Academy: “The programs are out there, but too few people know they’re there.” The academy is a USOC national program that focuses on getting children with physical disabilities to participate in sports and recreational activities.

Calhoun was among a group of recovering soldiers from Walter Reed who in early March traveled to Vail, Colo., for a ski program sponsored by Disabled Sports USA.

Snowboarg for the first time was “a blast” falls and all, Calhoun says. Like playing wheelchair basketball, it “opened my eyes” to new possibilities.

“I don’t want my life limited,” Calhoun says. “One day my son’s going to want to go skiing, and I don’t want to go, ‘Well, you have fun. I’ll sit in the lobby.’ I want to be out there.

“That’s a lot of motivation for me, to know that I have a family that depends on me and a son that wants a normal dad. I may not have legs, but I’m still normal.”

Elder_Wondra_largeRepresentatives from six ethnically diverse groups who were affected by the Balkan Wars as recent as 1999, came together for a “day of healing” to receive 500 wheelchairs donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Wheelchair Foundation.  The donation was made to the Association of Paraplegics and Handicapped Children of Kosovo (HANDIKOS) in Prishtina, the capitol of Kosovo, on January 29, 2004. 

Dr. Bajram Rexhepi, Prime Minister of Kosovo, and a physician who is dedicated to the needs of the physically and mentally handicapped, hosted the presentation ceremony and expressed that the Kosovar leaders were united in distributing the wheelchairs to people in need without regard to ethnic origin, religion, or nationality.  He saw the project as a tangible example of people’s ability to work for peace and reconciliation in a struggling region. 

Elder Johann Wondra, Area Authority Seventy from the Europe Central Area,
presented the wheelchairs to Mr. Halit Ferizi, president of HANDIKOS, who is confined to a wheelchair himself.  Elder Wondra told the recipients that it was his “hope and prayer that these wheelchairs may help you gain mobility to achieve your full potential in this world, that you may be blessed with the power to overcome the trials of your life”.

Suzana Krstiq, one of the wheelchair recipients, was carried to the presentation ceremony by her mother who has provided continuous care for her daughter for 18 years.  Suzana’s mother expressed her gratitude for a wheelchair and stated that both of their lives would now be improved. 

Other distinguished guests attending the ceremony were Mr. Harri Holkeri, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations; Mrs. Marcie Ries, Chief of Mission, of the U.S. Office-Prishtina; Major General Giuseppe Gay, Deputy Commander KFOR (United Nations Peace Keeping Force); Dr. Valon Murtezaj, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister; Dr. Resmije Mumcu, representing the Minister of Health; Mr. Behxhet Brajshori, Minister of Culture; the Mayor of Prishtina and many other guests from churches and the community.

Humanitarian Service missionaries, Elder and Sister Patrick McReaken, from the Croatia Zagreb Mission, organized the event.