The Wheel Chair Foundation Visits POCO
THE WHEEL CHAIR FOUNDATION Oct. 12, 2006
We were privileged to have Christina Flessner, the Canadian President of the Wheelchair Foundation, Craig Lenz, a Rotarian from Regina and a member of the WCF visit with us. They brought Chris Lewis, one of the originators of the program who works closely with Ken Behring, a philanthropist, closly associated with the program, to talk with Rotary members tonight. Rotary internationally, is a key component in their distribution network.
The Wheelchair Foundation is a nonprofit organization leading an international effort to create awareness of the needs and abilities of people with physical disabilities, to promote the joy of giving, create global friendship, and to deliver a wheelchair to every child, teen and adult in the world who needs one, but cannot afford one. For these people, the Wheelchair Foundation delivers Hope, Mobility and Freedom
The Wheelchair Foundation continues in its goal to deliver a wheelchair to every child, teen and adult in the world who needs one, but cannot afford one. While the need worldwide is overwhelming, the Wheelchair Foundation has made considerable headway in helping to provide mobility worldwide to those who cannot afford it. This great accomplishment of reaching one-half million wheelchairs marks a great success for the Wheelchair Foundation, and is only possible through generous donors.
Over one hundred million children, teens and adults worldwide are in need of a wheelchair but cannot afford one.
They thanked Rotary Clubs worldwide! Since March of 2001 Rotary Clubs have sponsored over 100,000 wheelchairs to over 100 countries! They also trust Rotary clubs to distribute chairs in third world countries. They know, that by using Rotary Clubs worldwide, the chairs will get to the people that need them.
For each $110 (Canadian Dollars) donated, they will combine that with funds provided specifically for that purpose and deliver a wheelchair to a child, teen or adult without mobility, freedom and often hope. Each wheelchair delivered affects the lives of about 10 people on average, beyond the person receiving the chair.
To watch videos of their wheelchair distributions, please go to the Wheel Chair Foundation website and choose an underlined country. New videos are being added frequently. Please visit "ABOUT US" for information about the Foundation. Donations are welcome and appreciated.
To date, the Wheelchair Foundation has delivered over 500,000 wheelchairs in over 140 countries worldwide. This achievement, which occurred on June 13, 2006, is celebrated along with the 6th anniversary, marking six years since the inception of the Wheelchair Foundation in June 2000. This was a great milestone for the organization and is representative of the number of lives that have been touched and changed around the world through the gift of a wheelchair.