With 2021 coming to a close, we leave you with this brief message from Wheelchair Foundation President, David E. Behring.
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All of us at Wheelchair Foundation are exceedingly grateful for your continued support throughout this year, which has continued to prove challenging for many people. Due to your continued support in being one of our partners in mobility along with your generous contributions, we were able to complete a number of distributions to different parts of the world including right here in the United States as well as Ecuador, Venezuela, Uganda, and more. With your generosity, we were able to provide nearly 10,000 wheelchairs to individuals in need! Below are just a couple of stories from recipients that we were able to deliver mobility to in 2021.
A few weeks ago Wheelchair Foundation received an e-mail from someone here in the United States saying they had a relative in Venezuela with a six-year-old son named Abraham who has Cerebral Palsy and needed a wheelchair. We contacted Federica, one of our in-country partners in Venezuela, who happened to be receiving our next container of wheelchairs in early December. On December 22, Federica delivered the wheelchair just in time for Christmas providing not only young Abraham (pictured left) with the basic right of mobility with his new wheelchair, but with the gift of hope to move around freely.
We traveled to Ecuador and met Jorge (pictured right), who had lost his right leg from diabetes. He was lucky enough to have adult children to care for him, for which he was so grateful. However, it can be an emotional burden as a parent to have to depend on your children. This man’s two adult children would share the responsibility because they both had children of their own and they had to work to support not just their families, but their father as well. The man did not hold back his tears as we lifted him into his new wheelchair. “Now I do not have to rely on my children for everything.” He said between sobs. The emotional burden was lightened for this man on that day. He was now able to do many things on his own, and his children were free to work to better support their families. ~In the photo, Left: Cody Christman, back: Craig Fryer, right: Heather Schomaker
If you’ve already donated, THANK YOU!! This is a gentle reminder that you have a couple of more chances to make a tax-deductible donation for 2021
Thank you again for your support, it’s been an honor to serve with you.
Sincerely,
Wheelchair Foundation
P.S. Want to make a 2021 tax-deductible donation via check, but concerned it won’t get to us in time? No worries! Any donations in envelopes postmarked by 12/31 will count as a 2021 tax-deductible donation. Our address is listed at the bottom of this email.
Dear Friends,
As the 2021 year draws to a close most of us feel a sense of frustration and anxiety with both the length and breadth of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has not faded into the rear-view mirror as expected or hoped and it continues to disrupt lives and businesses in so many different ways. So many people have been tragically taken from us – often without being able to say “I love you” or “Goodbye”. Weddings, vacations, school activities, family get-togethers, and special events keep getting pushed further back into the calendar and nobody can predict what will happen in 2022. We pray that it will be much better.
We know this too well because we just made the difficult decision to postpone the 20th Anniversary for the Wheelchair Foundation for the fifth time since the pandemic began. We had planned a wonderful celebration with a great dance band to honor Don Routh, Josh Routh, and Bill Wheeler at the Blackhawk Museum. During the last two decades, these three men have helped fund and personally deliver tens of thousands of wheelchairs to over 20 countries. Our organization felt that there was still too much risk to the health and well-being of 300 attendees and staff in an enclosed space for an extended period of time in spite of setting up all of the necessary protocols.
It will now become our 22nd Anniversary and we have so much to celebrate. In addition to providing free wheelchairs to over 1,150,000 individuals across the globe, we have enjoyed successful and lasting partnerships with thousands of Rotary clubs, NGOs, religious organizations, governments, foundations, individuals, schools, corporations, and other groups. We have always delivered the wheelchairs regardless of the myriad of logistical challenges that can appear out of left field. We also take pride in knowing the indelible impact that our donors, our partners, and the Wheelchair Foundation have had on these recipients, their friends, and their family members.
With the holidays approaching, we want everyone to cherish their health, their family members, their friends, their communities and make sure to extend a hand to someone less fortunate than you. COVID-19 has changed all of our lives forever and we should never take anything for granted. God bless everyone.
Choose the gift of mobility this holiday season by dedicating gifts to your friends and family and sponsoring wheelchairs in the name, honor, or memory of someone you love. For your donation of $150, you will receive a beautiful presentation folder with a photo of a recipient, and a personalized certificate thanking or honoring that special person in your life, along with our 3 Ply Cotton reusable, face mask to remind you throughout the year of your generous donation.
Donations in any dollar amount help change the lives of those who are less fortunate and in need of mobility. With your gift of $100 or more, we will send you a candy apple red triple-function pen with flashlight and stylus. Show your support for Wheelchair Foundation and introduce new individuals to our mission by carrying our 24-Can Highland Backpack Cooler when you generously donate $500 or more.
No shopping, wrapping, or shipping! Simply call us directly at 877.378.3839, donate online through our website (WheelchairFoundation.org), or use the enclosed envelope to donate by mail. Please make your donations by December 10th to allow sufficient time for us to prepare and mail your customized presentation folders.
We at the Wheelchair Foundation are exceedingly grateful for your decision to provide the gift of mobility and allow us to continue the mission of reaching those in need of mobility around the world. Thank you for your generous support of those who are less fortunate than we are.
Happy Holidays!
David Behring
We are remembering with great fondness Wheelchair Foundation President, David Behring’s trip-of-a-lifetime, the opportunity to join a group of volunteers and chaperone a Veteran on an Honor Flight to Washington, D. C. to see the memorials built in honor of their service and sacrifice in support of democracy.
~ by David Behring
Over the years the Wheelchair Foundation has furnished wheelchairs to Honor Flight Network chapters throughout the country. This non-profit organization’s mission is to provide all-expense-paid trips for World War II veterans back to Washington, D.C so that they can visit their memorial along with Arlington Cemetery and other memorials related to military service.
Every veteran is assigned a guardian to assist him or her on the trip. Since most of these veterans are at least 90 years old, the wheelchair makes it much easier to both rest and be pushed by the guardian. A “wheelchair brigade” of volunteers would file out first from the bus at each stop and set up the wheelchairs. It ran very efficiently and the veterans greatly appreciated the convenience. It was quite a sight to see our group of 26 veterans in red shirts and jackets in red wheelchairs against the background of the white WWII Memorial.
In September I had the honor and privilege to be a guardian on Bay Area Honor Flight #4 and accompany Frank Carli, a Navy Seabee who spent time at Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima.
As an ardent student of WWII history, I loved meeting and talking to these men and women who helped save the world from tyranny. From the time we left San Francisco very, very early on a Thursday morning to our return on Saturday night, the patriotism and support from people was unbelievable.
Large crowds greeted us at the airports with flags, banners, and cheering. School kids would gather around the veterans and want their pictures taken. A police escort accompanied our bus during the entire trip.
One of the most poignant parts of our Honor Flight was V (for Victory) Mail Night when they received mail from their family members and friends as well as letters of gratitude from strangers such as students, Boy Scouts, and young veterans. One could not help but get emotional watching these veterans carefully read a dozen or so letters of appreciation. Many of the veterans re-read those letters on the flight home.
I am glad that we were able to play a small role in making the trip easier for these courageous and patriotic men and women who served our country so well 70 years ago. As Frank told me at the end of the trip, “I cannot begin to tell you how unbelievable and emotional this trip has been. Being with the guys, hearing the cheers, walking the memorials – the experience was far beyond anything I expected.”
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: >>> In Tanzania, along “Mosquito’s River,” Conservation Foundation Trust works with local tribal communities to reach disabled children, adults, and elderly in an area seldom visited by aid organizations. Traditional rural trade routes meet in areas where multiple Tribes have settled. In villages like Mto Wa Bbu, like any major cultural hub, people from all stations of life do business together and take part in caring for one another. >>> Lions Club of Harare West presents wheelchairs to individuals and institutions in need of wheelchair mobility. >>> Recipients and their families gather to celebrate the gift of a wheelchair. >>> Lots of excited and happy recipients take a moment to thank the Lions for their efforts to assist the people of Zimbabwe. >>>
For more than 20 years Wheelchair Foundation has been providing wheelchairs to partner organizations whose specialty is to reach deep into rural areas not frequented by other aid organizations.
Mto Wa Mbu is a small village a little over 75 miles due west from Arusha, Tanzania. The name “Mto Wa Mbu” means “Mosquitos’ River.” Here locals grow bananas and host tourists who pass through on their treks to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and Serengeti National Park. The populace is made up of members of some 150 unique tribes with nearly as many languages spoken.
Conservation Foundation Trust (CFT) is committed to supporting communities in and around wildlife reserves and protected areas. The community support is part of a partnership with the villages to conserve the natural resources and ensure that they receive tangible benefits from the sustainable use of wildlife in the protected areas. On behalf of Wheelchair Foundation, CFT was able to distribute 20 wheelchairs to the disabled people of Mto Wa Mbu bordering Monduli Juu Open Area.
South of Tanzania, in Zimbabwe, the Lions Club of Harare West has been a wheelchair distribution partner helping to reach the disabled near Harare. Although grateful for the privilege to serve their community through assistance rendered through the receipt of wheelchairs, their work has revealed greater demand than they have supplied. Economic constraints within the country and the early effects of the global pandemic may very well continue to increase the demand for wheelchairs.
As with many distribution efforts, in the process of identifying individuals in need of a wheelchair, when the word spreads, suddenly the demand rises above the number of wheelchairs available. Many partner organizations maintain lists of people in need, in the hope that more wheelchairs will arrive. In Africa, there is always a need. It may just take more effort to reach those waiting for relief.
We are thankful for our partners, their families, and our donors, all of who keep making our work possible.
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