February 2003

Greetings from the Free Wheelchair Mission!

We are grateful for a fantastic 2002, and a very successful December. Our Christmas card program was a terrific success. We may have made history, sending the first Christmas cards that included a movie!

Here are some highlights of our current position:

  • We exceeded our fund raising goal of $250,000 in 2002. We shipped 7 containers. We provided over 3800 wheelchairs. One more container bound for Ecuador is on hold until their new government stabilizes.
  • We had over 650 donors in 2002. If you made a donation directly to us, you should have received a thank you, a 2002 donation tax receipt, and a copy of our annual report. If you did not donate but wish to receive our annual report, give me your mailing address.
  • We have wheelchairs in over 16 countries.
  • We have enough funds from 2002 to ship five more containers.
  • In 2002 we accomplished what many felt would be very difficult. With great confidence and great faith, we state our goal - WE WILL PROVIDE 20 MILLION WHEELCHAIRS TO THE POOR THIS DECADE.
  • We are in communication with three very large humanitarian aid organizations. We wish to form partnerships with these and others to help distribute wheelchairs and raise funds.
  • Rotary District 5240 is applying matching grants to Rotary International to fund eight containers.
  • We led a pilot mission to Ensenada with 16 wheelchairs in an open trailer. While waiting in line to clear customs, four different mission groups at the border saw the wheelchairs and asked how they could receive some. The church we visited in Ensenada would like a container to distribute throughout northern Baja.
  • I mentioned to you we brought a container of wheelchairs to China in December. Here is a report from Reverent Tang in Zhengzhou, China:

    "Henan is an impoverished province. The 550 wheelchairs have covered only a very small portion of disabled people in the province. Many disabled people cried when they received the wheelchair. They are very appreciative of the warmth and care you gave them. I have collected some pictures and will send them to you. Local churches contacted the provincial Christian Council after hearing about the wheelchair distribution program. Many people expressed sadness that there are no more wheelchairs left to give. It seems that we need more free wheelchairs in 2003, and the need is urgent."

  • Many have asked for an "all occasion" gift card. This would be one you could use for birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day, or any other occasion. You could use it just to say hello to someone. It works the same way our Christmas cards worked: you donate a wheelchair in someone else's name, and you send that someone a card explaining the donation. Our talented artist Indra (Chennai, India) provided some new paintings for the cards. (I attach a sample of one card.) You may order these cards through our website in a couple of weeks.

OUR NEXT CHALLENGE

We have immediate needs to ship containers to Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and second containers to Chennai, India and Zhengzhou, China. In 2003 we have to change our cost for the wheelchair. We must cover the costs of shipping, importing (duties and customs), storing, distribution, and our modest overhead costs for operations. During 2002 our average cost for placing a wheelchair in a developing country was $41.17, including all these other costs. We will adopt this cost in 2003. $41.17 will deliver a wheelchair to a physically disabled person in a developing country.

Your gifts and prayers are needed now. Please invite your family and friends to join you in praying and giving toward a container for any of these target countries.

- $41.17 places 1 wheelchair
- $411.70 places 10 wheelchairs
- $823.40 places 20 wheelchairs
- $1,646.80 places 40 wheelchairs
- $8,234 places 200 wheelchairs
- $22643.50 places 550 wheelchairs (a complete container)

Free Wheelchair Mission has IRS tax-exempt status.

Thank you in advance for whatever you can give.

God bless,

Don Schoendorfer
President - Free Wheelchair Mission
1842 Whitestone Terrace
Santa Ana, CA 92705
www.freewheelchairmission.org