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Wheelchair Collection Drive
October 12-17 in Middle Georgia
by Eunice Galloway
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Help us to change lives–one wheelchair at a time. Do
you have any adult or pediatric manual wheelchairs
(including non-foldable), aluminum walkers, canes or
crutches you would like to donate to a worthy cause? During
the week of October 12 - 17, area volunteers from Wheels for
the World (WFTW), an organization started by Joni Eareckson
Tada, will be collecting wheelchairs to donate to people
around the world in need of one.
WFTW is one of five disability programs of Joni's
outreach
known as Joni and Friends (JAF), which began in 1994. JAF
aims to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the
disabled around the world by providing wheelchairs and
sharing the love of Jesus Christ. Joni has been a
quadriplegic for 40 years and knows firsthand the importance
of a wheelchair and what the gift of mobility can mean.
I serve as a local JAF Chair Corps volunteer, and one of
the small groups at Houston Lake Presbyterian Church, where
I attend, will be coordinating the drive. Richard
Dannenberg, owner of Alpha Graphics, is partnering with us
as corporate sponsor and will store wheelchairs in his
downtown Macon office.
After being collected, the chairs will be transported for
restoration to be given to some of the estimated 20 million
people around the world who are in need of one. In some of
these countries the cost of a wheelchair can equal a year's
wages, resulting in the impossibility for people affected by
disability to ever receive one. Living in isolation, lacking
simple mobility and cut off from life, many of the disabled
are also tragically cut off from the local church. As a
result, many have never heard the gospel message or
experienced the love of Christ.
WFTW consists of three major operations:
Collection: Over 1200 Chair Corps volunteers
collect, store, and transport used wheelchairs. Anyone can
be a Chair Corp volunteer.
Restoration: The meticulous restoration of
collected wheelchairs takes place in the U. S. by carefully
trained inmates in 20 separate correctional facilities in 15
different states. With increasing output capabilities at
each restoration site, Joni and Friends is aggressively
addressing the staggering need worldwide and actively
seeking more locations. Georgia has no facility at present
for restoration, but hopes in the future to have one.
Inmates in these various facilities restore the
wheelchairs to a "like new" condition. The inmates
learn to work together, perfect basic mechanical skills, and
produce a product of which they can be proud. Hardened
inmates have been moved to tears when they see the happiness
in a photo of the face of a little boy or girl receiving a
wheelchair of their very own. One such precious child is
shown in the photo. I met him on my first WFTW trip to India
in May 2008. A comment from one inmate was, "Before,
when I reached out, it was to take things or hurt people.
Now it feels like I've reached halfway around the world
through these bars to help someone. I'm giving them
something better in life."
After the wheelchairs have been restored, they are then
transported by volunteers to the shipping port for shipment
overseas to a poor and needy country.
Distribution: Since the first Wheels trip to
Ghana, W. Africa in 1994, WFTW has distributed 51, 533
wheelchairs to 102 countries and has trained hundreds of
ministry and community leaders, including people with
disabilities. As a result many have placed their trust in
Christ and are experiencing new life and purpose with their
new mobility.
Teams of approximately 15 short-term missionaries (STM)
travel overseas to distribute the restored wheelchairs. Each
recipient is custom fitted to his/her wheelchair by a
physical or occupational therapist and wheelchair mechanic
to ensure proper fit and function. Construction teams build
accessible ramps for the disabled. In 2008 twenty teams
traveled to Brazil, Cuba, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Mexico,
Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Thailand, Uganda and Ukraine
to distribute 6, 000 restored wheelchairs, spread the gospel
of Jesus Christ, and offer Bibles in the recipients'
language.
In early November I will have the privilege again of
traveling with a team to Egypt for JAF"s first WFTW to
that ancient country. They plan to fit and distribute 200
chairs.
To let you know how God is arranging this very first
outreach to Egypt, the team will be hosted by several
amazing people. Serving as our JAF Country Coordinator will
be the only woman nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in
Egypt; the President of Protestant Churches of Egypt; and
the Director of the Bible Society of Egypt.
Because the support commitment is long term, WFTW plans
to establish a wheelchair repair and/or restoration shop in
each country where annual outreaches are held. This will
allow broken wheelchairs to be restored in-country, reduce
costs and provide job opportunities. There are repair shops
in Ghana, Romania, and Honduras and a restoration shop in
Poland.
We hope you will consider partnering with Joni and
Friends through our Collection Drive the week of Oct
12-17th.
For more information, you may contact Eunice at euniceg@earthlink.net
or 478. 827. 1377. You may also contact Samuel Buxton,
Director, WFTW, Joni and Friends, Agoura Hills, CA 91376,
(818) 575-1743, sbuxton@joniandfriends.org
or visit www.joniandfriends.org
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Wheelchair Drop Off Locations
Warner Robins:
1. Houston Lake Presbyterian, 110 Tommy Stalnaker Dr. 9
a.m. -5 p.m. Contact Eunice Galloway at 478-827-1377
2. Home Decor Houston Mall, 233 N. Houston Rd; 10 a.m. -
5 p.m. Mon-Fri 329-9124
Perry:
1. Perry Senior Center at Rozar Park 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Mon-Fri Contact Tammie Baker 478-988-0060
2. Cossart Design Contact Kathy Tufts 478-396-2900
Byron:
Byron United Methodist Church, 103 West Heritage. 9 a.m.
- 4 p. m Mon-Fri Contact Geri Harker 478-956-5717
Macon:
ALPHA GRAPHICS, 566 Poplar St, Downtown Macon, 9 a.m. - 4
p.m. Mon-Fri Contact Richard Dannenberg, 478. 784. 0033
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