By Joe Hadsall
jhadsall@joplinglobe.com
Sid Davis has an odd talent. If you turn around, he’ll be able to guess your wheelchair size.
Davis developed his talent while delivering the gift of mobility to people in Cancun, Mexico. He and several other members of the Joplin Rotary Club in April gave 240 wheelchairs to people in need of them.
The club joined with a Rotary Club in Springdale, Ark., in the effort, and the Joplin club plans to repeat that effort in Nassau, Bahamas.
“The wheelchairs we are buying are heavy-duty, off-road models that are beefier and stronger and have bigger tires,” Davis said. “These can be pushed on the dirt tracks of life. Not everyone has paved roads in front of their house.”
The club is working with the Rotary Club of East Nassau on the effort to purchase about 120 chairs, at a cost of $150 each. The club is wrapping up fundraising this month, and Davis said the club needs to raise about $4,500 more to meet its goal of purchasing 60 of the 120 chairs.
The chairs will be ordered and delivered to Nassau in April 2010. Davis and others will travel to the English-speaking country and help fit chairs for their intended patients.
When they arrive, Davis said they will find conditions similar to those in Cancun.
“We picked a country with similar medical needs that weren’t getting met,” Davis said.
During the Cancun trip last April, Davis said he spent a week working with a Cancun branch of the club. He delivered wheelchairs into people’s homes, which were everything from houses to thatched roof huts with galvanized tin for walls.
The people who lived in the homes ranged from children to senior citizens, all who had lost their regular mobility from paralysis, injury or sickness. Some walked on crutches, others got around by crawling on the floor, Davis said.
He recalled one man who pushed himself around in an office chair, similar to one found at desks in offices across the world.
“He had a ramp from the front porch to the street that was at a 30- degree angle,” Davis said. “People had to push him up and down. He couldn’t do it by himself.”
Mobility is a significant issue, Davis said, for the children and adults who lose it. The wheelchairs let kids be kids by allowing them to join and play.
“These kids have no future unless something is done for them,” Davis said. “Some have clubbed feet, others are missing limbs. But because they have mobility, they can play with other kids. They have a chance at a future.”
As for the adults, many lose their mobility from workplace accidents. Others suffer from polio or have to work on crutches. The wheelchairs let them re-enter the work force, become more productive and provide for their families again, Davis said.
And patients aren’t the only ones who benefit.
“I would guess a single wheelchair touches about 10 people,” Davis said. “It frees the family and caregivers as much as the patient.”
As money is collected, donors and recipients bond. Davis said some of the people who contributed got a chance to pick the recipient.
“When I gave the chairs, I told them about the people who bought them,” Davis said. “When I came back, I had pictures for the families who donated chairs. It became personal.”
Candidates are chosen by the social welfare system in charge, Davis said. For the Cancun trip, the Rotary clubs worked with the Mexican government.
Davis plans to visit Nassau in April 2010 with six to eight others, he said. In addition to passing out the wheelchairs, the group will meet officials with the host club and government.
Davis said this effort is one of the higher levels of outreach from the club, and it charges his passion for Rotary.
“When I came back, I realized that Rotary is one of the few organizations in the entire world that can make a difference without politics or religion,” Davis said. “We do the right things by people like government should do and how God would do.”
Want to give?
Fundraising efforts for Rotary’s upcoming wheelchair donation are concluding soon. To make a donation, make out a check to “Rotary Community Fund” and mail it to 5863 Lark Road, Diamond, MO 64840. Donors will receive paperwork for tax deductions.
