I Can Go on My Own to School

Greetings , and happy Friday Monday!

Today I’m happy to bring you a story from our distribution partners in Pakistan, the Al-Khidmat Foundation. They recently had a distribution in Lahore and from that distribution came this story:

My name is Shmaila and my father hardly can find some labour work on daily basis. He earns only 300 rupees a day (equivalent to US$ 4). I am living with my younger sister and parents in Lahore. I was in 6th grade when I was suddenly affected by a disease which completely weakened the nerves of my both legs. Because of this disease, I can hardly stand up and cannot walk at all.

It was impossible for my mother to take me to school. Although I always stood first or second in my class, I could not arrange to go to my school. Now I have received a wheelchair from Free Wheelchair Mission through Ihsanullah Waqas, Vice President Al-Khidmat Foundation. I am very happy because I can go on my own to my school and continue my studies. I was missing my school fellows, but with this wheelchair I will again get a chance to see my friends.  I am very, very happy.

Thank you very much Free Wheelchair Mission and Al-Khidmat Foundation Pakistan.

Sometimes a wheelchair can bring things like work and opportunity. Other times it can bring something as simple as fellowship with others. Thank you so much for your continued support of Free Wheelchair Mission and for making joyful moments, like Shmaila’s reunion with her classmates, possible.

Blessings,

Don Schoendorfer

St. Louis, MObility: Fun to be had this Saturday!

One of our Ambassadors, Jennifer Biggs, is hosting an event this Saturday to help support Free Wheelchair Mission and if you’re in the St. Louis/St. Charles area of Missouri it’s going to be a great evening to hang out, have some fun and give some mobility!

It’s the 3rd annual Trivia Island event and will be taking place this Saturday (4/28) at 7PM at the St. Charles Borromeo Gym. The evening includes fun trivia games, a silent auction and raffle drawings with the proceeds going towards Free Wheelchair Mission! There will also be snacks, sodas (for the kids) and draft beer (for the 21 and over crowd) provided. If this sounds like something you’re interested in doing and would like more information, please email us: communications[at]freewheelchairmission.org for more information!

Beautiful Recipient Video from Chile

We received a video last week from our distribution partner in Chile, FEDES. The video is entitled “A Wheelchair for Marisol” and even though we could talk about what the gift of mobility means to recipients, we’d rather just let you hear about it from Marisol herself. We hope this video blesses you today as much as you bless others by supporting our mission. Thank You!

This Wheelchair will be My Feet

Greetings and happy Friday Monday!

I wanted to share a story with you from our distribution partner in El Salvador, FUSAL. Recently they sent me an update with a few photos and stories from recipients. Out of the many inspiring tales, the words of Lisandro Antonio, who is missing the entirety of both his legs, really stood out to me. Today it’s my joy to pass his words along to you:

Before, I moved around on a skateboard, but now this wheelchair will be my feet.

God bless the donors who are providing these wheelchairs from the United States and to FUSAL because they are distributing where the real need is.

I know that for the people who are like me, they have also been blessed this morning.

It’s so easy for most of us here to look at something like a skateboard and see it as a fun pastime for youths and yet, for years, Lisandro used it because it was his only means of getting anywhere. Now, thanks to a wheelchair, he will be able to move around town much easier—and move forward in his life. Thank you so much for being a part of Lisandro’s life, and the lives of our 635,000 recipients around the world.

Blessings,

Don Schoendorfer

The Big Thanks: A Huge Impact

12,817. 12,817 lives transformed–and it would have never happened without you so we just wanted to say…

Special Delivery!

Want to see where wheelchairs were delivered this week? Here you go!

YAHOO! SPORTS: “San Diego Chargers Linebacker Shaun Phillips Engaging Community Through Popchips and Free Wheelchair Mission”

Shaun Phillips has been active in the Southern California community ever since the San Diego Chargers drafted him in 2004. Now he’s involved in the national community-based campaign known as popchips game changers and the global charity, Free Wheelchair Mission. I caught up with Phillips recently, and he had a lot to say about both programs …(FULL STORY)

As most of you know, San Diego Chargers Linebacker Shaun Phillips is one of our Ambassadors for Mobility. Derek Ciapala, a writer for Yahoo Sports, recently interviewed him about his involvement with Popchips Game Changers and Free Wheelchair Mission. We wanted to share the article with you and let you know that if you want to join Team Shaun Phillips, you can right here!

Mending Clothes: Mending Lives

Sorry it’s a little late in the day everybody–here’s your Monday Recap!

This week’s story comes from Robert Kalatschan of Giving it back to kids, one of our distribution partners in Vietnam.

Trung is the eldest child in a family of three children and suffers from spina bifida. This illness has stolen the use of his right foot making him progressively more dependent on others to get around. He attended school until grade four, but has lived as much of his life in hospitals as with his family.

Three years ago, Trung started to feel that he was burdening his family beyond what they could bear. His father lost his job after going blind in one eye and his mother, a street cleaner, had to take on a second job to make ends meet. Trung wanted desperately to help his parents, but, in his own words, “ my legs wouldn’t allow me to.” Depression set in and Trung started to wish he had never been born. “The more my mother had to care for me, the worse I felt about myself.”

“My life has only been better since I was given the wheelchair. I used to really want to help my parents with some little housework but I was afraid to create more work for them so I resigned to stay in one place. Now I can move to anywhere I want and I am very happy since I can help my mother to mend clothes every day and my mother is making more money with my assistance. I feel my life is better now and it is all because of presence of the wheelchair.”

Because of your support people like Trung have gotten a new lease on life. Thank you so much for your continued support-especially over the past forty days of The Big Push. We will be sending out an announcement shortly with all of the final numbers from the campaign and we are grateful in bringing them to you.

Blessings,

Don Schoendorfer

Grantee Spotlight: Free Wheelchair Misson!

We got a really nice spotlight feature from the Tarsadia Foundation–check it out! Thank you so much to the Tarsadia Foundation for their continued support of Free Wheelchair Mission, just last year they funded an entire container of chairs–550 people who were able to be lifted off the ground on top of helping with distributions in Peru! THANK YOU!

Grantee Spotlight: Free Wheelchair Misson!

NEWPORT BEACH INDEPENDENT – Easter with 4,000 Friends

Question:  What do you get when you combine a blood drive, a food truck party, 10 talented musicians, a gathering of local churches, and one inspirational speaker, at the Pacific Amphitheater in the OC Fairgrounds the Saturday night before Easter?

You can see the answer here! Cindy Trane Christeson put together an awesome write-up in the Newport Beach Independent about our Easter Together event on April 7 and we wanted to share it with all of you! Thanks so much, Cindy!

Thank you also to all the food trucks, Transparent Productions, Rock Harbor Church, Francis Chan, and the Easter Together artists for making this event such a success! And, especially, thank you so much to everyone that came out–we were able to raise 550 people off the ground: a full container of wheelchairs! Simply amazing!