ROTARY CLUB DONATES WHEELCHAIRS By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Pond Hill, Nevis) – An estimated 100 million people worldwide need a wheelchair and Rotary International along with the Wheelchair Foundation are pitching in to help fill that order. Last year, the two organizations donated 100,000 wheelchairs through 100 countries worldwide. Last weekend, Rotary International gave the gift of mobility by handing over about 30 wheelchairs in the Federation. Ten were presented to recipients in St. Kitts on Saturday and several more were donated on Nevis the next day. Three recipients at the ceremony in Nevis were outfitted with their new chairs and given instructions on their use and maintenance by Rotarian RCFC President Gayapersaud Beharry of Trinidad-based Rotary District 7030. District 7030 covers most of the Eastern Caribbean and in this district Rotary International and the Wheelchair Foundation plan to donate about 1,400 chairs this year. “Giving the gift of mobility is the single biggest improvement to the quality of life that one can give,’said Baharry. “Being able to get out of the house and go to church or visit loved ones makes such a huge difference in a person’s life.”The chairs are manufactured in China and because of the volume the two organizations buy, the price is a very affordable US$150. The same chair bought retail in a developed country could cost 10 times as much. “So far, we have handed over wheelchairs in Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The total cost of the project is $US120,000, so we have been very fortunate to receive the financial support that we did,”he said. “All we ask is that for whatever reason you no longer need your wheelchair, to return it to the Rotary Club so it can be passed on to another person.”
