Incoming President Dennis LaPlante got pumped up this year when he attended PETS and learned about “Crutches 4 Africa”. The project is the brainchild of Dave Talbot, a Rotarian from Colorado ...and a polio survivor. Talbot believes that mobility is a “human right”. He knew that crutches, canes, folding walkers, and wheelchairs get thrown out every day in America, so he created a way to get all those devices to the victims of disease and injury in Africa through his Crutches 4 Africa Program.
 
This week members of the Milford Rotary Club and the Uxbridge Rotary held a combined luncheon meeting at The Willowbrook Restaurant in Mendon to discuss a plan to work together with the newly formed Milford High School Interact Club to establish collection/drop off locations where people can leave their gently-used equipment.
 
  Rotarian Chuck Moran of the Dracut Rotary, which runs a full-blown Crutches 4 Africa program, was the featured speaker and Founder Talbot of Colorado attended the meeting by Skype. Since the program was started over 58,000 mobility items have been collected and shipped to 11 Countries.
 
Following the informative meeting the two club presidents agreed to work together along with the Milford Rotary Interact Officers to resolve logistics and to set timelines for an effective launch date. 
 
 After the devices have been donated, the Club will store them until a certain quantity has accumulated. Then the devices will be shipped to Africa in huge containers and distributed free to the mobility-impaired. The Crutches 4 Africa organization picks up the shipping costs. It cost about $3 to ship a pair of crutches oversees within fully loaded container.
 
President LaPlante noted, “ It’s an exciting program. We hope to collect as many devices as possible and look forward to working with President Joan Mackinnon of the Uxbridge Club and the President of the Milford Interact Club to make this exciting Rotary Project available on our communities. We know that there are a lot people who would be happy to extend the useful life of a no longer needed mobility device".
 
Photo-left to right: Milford Rotary President Dennis LaPlante, Uxbridge Rotary President Joan Mackinnon, and Chuck Moran, chairman of the Crutches 4 Africa program for the Dracut Rotary Club.