Redlands volunteers Keep Things Rolling

1/1/2009 - Redlands volunteers Keep Things Rolling

REDLANDS VOLUNTEERS KEEP THINGS ROLLING

Jeanette Burkhart

Wheels for the World is a nonprofit, faith-based organization, that provides restored wheelchairs to disabled people at no cost in 22 developing countries around the word. The organization was founded by Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic herself since the age of seventeen.

Here in Redlands, Chair Corps Volunteer Coordinator Jeannette Burkhart heads up a small group of volunteers. Since April 2008, they have acquired more than 200 wheelchairs, numerous walkers, canes, and crutches. Last September, Burkhart and her husband Dick, attended a three-day conference at the Wheels for the World headquarters in Agoura Hills, California. During the conference they were able to tour Taft Correctional Facility where repair and restoration services are provided for the used and sometimes inoperable manual wheelchairs that the group collects.

“Wheels for the World provides supervision and training for all aspects of wheelchair building and restoration while teaching the inmates valuable skill”, said Burkhart.. “During our tour one inmate told us, ‘We have done a lot of bad things in our lives, and now, for the first time, we are doing something good for people we will never meet.’ ”

After the collected wheelchairs are repaired like new, they are shipped through the group’s outreach missionary program, gifted to individuals in dire need. Redlands volunteers custom fit each chair to the recipient, and people in the family or community are trained in the use and repair of the chairs. This gift brings a new freedom to the recipient, breaking the barrier of isolation or discouragement which they often feel. Since its inception, the program has given away over 30,000 wheelchairs worldwide.

If you would like to help with the program or have a wheelchair, collapsible walker, crutches, or canes to donate, please call Jeannette Burkhart at 909/792-2308 for pick up. You can also use the drop off site at First Baptist Church of Redlands, 51 W. Olive Street. Visit their website at www.jonandfriends.org to find out more.

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