Wheelchairs Donated in 2017 Continue to Help Navajo Elders
Nearly 5 years ago, Phoenix Rotary 100 purchased 140 wheelchairs for the Navajo Nation through the Adopt-A-Native-Elder (A.N.E.) organization with the intention that they would be used as needed by the Elders. Photos of a recent distribution of wheelchairs, dubbed “Red Ferrari” by the Elders, shown in the June 2022 Adopt-A-Native-Elder newsletter, show the power and club appreciation our 2017 donation is still making. Many thanks are due to PRCC, the IOC and especially to Bob Withers, Steve Goldston and former member Bryan McCay.
Project Background Information
In 2017, club members Steve Goldston, Bryan McCay, and Craig Wilson assisted on a “Food Run” (to supply food and other essentials and gifts to the elderly on the Navajo Nation) with the Adopt-A-Native-Elder (A.N.E.) organization. Bryan was on the A.N.E. board and our club donated several thousand dollars to purchase food and household staples for the Elders. While there, we observed a young Navajo woman assisting her uncle into a wheelchair. The man was twice her size and had no leg function. She pulled him from the pickup and onto his wheelchair, then pushed him to a place in line. His wheelchair had no foot rests, so his feet dragged through the dirt.
This story was related to Bob Withers, who heard it as a plea to do more. Bob and Bryan collaborated with A.N.E. to determine the need and then, with the Wheelchair Foundation (a Rotary partner), purchased about 140 heavy duty wheelchairs (a full container of various sizes). In addition to his own generous contribution, Bob solicited matching funds plus a grant from PRCC to purchase the chairs. The wheelchairs were delivered to the Winslow Rotary Club and stored for the project. Next, A.N.E. volunteers delivered the appropriate chairs to the Many Farms community where the Fall food run would be held. Bob, Steve, Craig and Bryan drove up to the Reservation in October of 2017, assembled the chairs and matched individuals to chairs appropriate for them. Wheelchairs not distributed were stored by A.N.E. for later needs, as shown in the June 2022 A.N.E. newsletter.
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