Morehead, Kentucky Sister Cites Pledges 100 Wheelchairs for Yangshou, China

Monday, October 17th was officially Sister Cities Wheelchairs for Peace Day in Rowan County and the city of Morehead, Kentucky.  Dr. Ewell Scott started the evening by introducing County Judge/Executive Clyde Thomas and Morehead Mayor Brad Collins who read proclamations announcing the Wheelchairs for Peace Day.  Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher also sent a proclamation that covered the whole Commonwealth of Kentucky at Senator Walter Blevins’s request.

Betty Cutts, the Yangshuo Sister Cities Committee Chairperson, educated those in attendance of the overwhelming need for wheelchairs in Yangshuo and presented a short video presentation showing Chinese citizens receiving Wheelchair Foundation wheelchairs.  The Foundation has currently distributed over 98,000 wheelchairs throughout China, but with a population of 1.6 billion the surface has just barely been scratched.  The Chinese government has told the Foundation on several occasions that there are currently over eight million physically disabled citizens in China that need a wheelchair but cannot afford one.  The Wheelchair Foundation works closely with the Chinese Disabled Persons Federation (CDPF) and China Charity Federation (CCF) to identify and distribute the wheelchairs in China. 

The Yangshou Sister Cities Committee has pledged to raise $6,000 for 100 wheelchairs at $60 each. A delegation from Morehead is also invited to travel to Yangshou for the distribution ceremony to present the 100 wheelchairs when the time comes.  Money for wheelchairs was donated to the Wheelchair Foundation at the recent Morehead Sister Cities China Night and leading the list of donors were Jimmy Yang and his wife Judy Zheng, the owners of China Star Restaurant where the event was held. 

The speaker for the evening was Wei Bin Zeng from the Louisville, Kentucky Sister Cities.  Mr. Zeng spoke about Sister Cities International and his experiences helping to facilitate the Sister Cities relationship between Louisville and their sister city, Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province. Mr. Zeng introduced three Jiujiang visiting scholars, Xiang Jun, Wu Xiaochuan, and Dai Ling Fang, who have been taking classes at the University of Louisville for the last six months.

Wei Bin, a professor at the University of Louisville, traveled with Governor Fletcher during his spring state visit to China to help with translations and arrangements. Mr. Zeng also talked about trade and cultural ties that are being developed between China and Kentucky, and showed pictures of the governor’s trip to Jiujiang. 

Morehead and Louisville are the only two cities in Kentucky who have sister cities relationships with Chinese cities.  Anyone wanting to donate a wheelchair to Yangshuo, China can send a $60 check made out to the Wheelchair Foundation to Betty Cutts, 106 Timber Lane, Morehead, KY 40351 or call 606-784-4785 for more information. 

The Wheelchair Foundation would like to thank Committee Chair Betty Cutts and the Morehead, Kentucky Sister Cities for supporting the mission and goal of the Wheelchair Foundation.  If you are interested in getting involved with raising funds to send wheelchairs to China or another country please contact Matt Montague at the Wheelchair Foundation via email at mmontague@wheelchairfoundation.org.