Our Rotaract chapter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is raising $18,000 to purchase and deliver 120 wheelchairs to help survivors of Polio who live in the Ivory Coast. This is a country that has identified more than 10,000 people who have disabilities but are often not able to afford good crutches or braces. A wheelchair is impossible for most. We hope to change their lives by fitting them with a solid wheelchair that can withstand roads and pathways that are sometimes rough.
To donate, please mail your check to the PO Box listed at the top. Write the check to the "Lincoln Rotary 14 Foundation" with a notation - "The Wheelchair Project."
Club members can also send a check or donate online at http://www.rotary14.org/club-14-foundation/donation.html - Simply select "Rotaract Wheelchair Project" under "Gift Choice."
Your tax-deductible donations will make a world of difference to our wheelchair recipients. Together, we can give those impacted by polio more opportunities to achieve personal and educational goals. We will promise to report back on the results of this fund raiser and the project.
With gratitude from All the members of the UNL Rotaract Club. (See more details below.)
Our club was Inspired by our former member, Konan Blaise Koko, fondly known as Koko, who survived Polio. He was not able to secure use of a wheelchair until after he began college. We have already seen results, as our members bought a single wheelchair in 2017 and delivered it to a young lady as she was entering university. Another wheelchair will be sent to a 10-year-old girl this summer 2019.
To date, we have raised about $9,000 of the $18,000 needed to supply the best wheelchairs at the most economical price. Our plan to purchase a half size shipping container filled with chairs. We will deliver and fit the chairs to those most in need through our partnership with the Canadian Wheelchair Foundation. This charitable organization has worked with many organizations including other Rotary Districts but sadly, has never delivered chairs to the Ivory Coast. We will be the first.
We are also partnering with the Ivory Coast National Disabilities Association and Rotary/Rotaract Clubs in Abidjan. These groups helped us deliver the first wheelchair and provided front page news coverage for the event. The Rotary clubs are now looking at funding a project to set up an ongoing repair service for our wheelchairs.
We are asking you kindly, as a Rotary club in District 5650, to assist us by donating $150 for one wheelchair - or more if you can. Please take this request to your board for consideration. In any case, we'd like to hear back from you as to your club's actions. If a formal application is required, please let us know. Some of the Rotaract Board members have asked if we might follow up with a phone call. We hope this will be OK.
We are using email in hopes that you will please forward this appeal to all the members of your club. Many Rotarians know a family member or friend who suffered from polio. We've already had 3 people donate $1000 or more.