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Greetings and Happy Friday!
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Here are some highlights of the week:                               January 12, 2007
  • Our first annual fundraiser for 2007 is the Run For Mobility dinner at the Pacific Shoreline Marathon on Saturday night February 3rd at the Hilton Hotel in Huntington Beach.  All Free Wheelchair Mission supporters are welcome.  We will review the year’s plans and recognize fund raisers in a wonderful celebration to start the year.
  • 1 container arrived Kyrgyzstan
  • Containers in route for Costa Rica, Kenya, India and 2 for China
  • Containers booked for passage to Ethiopia, Pakistan and Vietnam
  • Containers ordered for China (3), Philippines (3), Chile, Peru (2), Democratic Republic of Congo and El Salvador
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This story comes from Bart and Linda who were in Cambodia late December:

We were escorted 1 ½ hours by police/military escort to a small village north of Phnom Penh. When the door to the van opened, there were over 200 people waiting for us.There were at least 50 in wheelchairs that had been assembled the night before and early this day. I will always remember the astonished looks on the faces of those sitting in these newly assembled chairs. Some had smiles that were from ear to ear. There was one gentleman who had placed both his home made artificial legs on the ground beside his chair. That is one of the great visions I will always keep with me.

Linda and I participated in a blessing by the village Monks, followed by speeches from the village Mayor, our Host, the Secretary/Minister of Health, then much to my surprise I was asked to speak. I tried to explain just how wonderful it was to be part of this new freedom that those people sitting the these new chairs now can achieve. Knowing that these gifts will be used to improve people’s quality of life for years to come was unbelievably gratifying. Most times when you donate money for a cause, you never see the money put to actual use. It was utterly satisfying to give something use useful to people who will actually benefit.

The emotional high Linda and I experienced the whole trip was incredible. Not only did we give mobility to 50 new needy people, we freed their family and friends of the burden of supplying mobility for them. This experience will always be a great part of our lives. We are true believers in this wonderful Mission and all the good it represents. We were told by our Cambodian hosts that they need at least 100,000 more chairs.  Linda and I will do what we can to help them get those chairs. It is now, and will continue to be, a wonderful part of our life.