Children at Midway church on mission to help others
It’s safe to say that children who attended vacation Bible school at Center United Presbyterian Church in Midway during the summer experienced a few activities for the first time in their young lives.
Older children played racing games in wheelchairs, and the younger kids were encouraged to paint with their feet rather than their hands.
The 64 kids were learning first-hand how difficult it can be to live and function with a disability – especially in an undeveloped country in which resources are few.
It motivated the children, who ranged from 4 to 11 years old, to raise donations for the Free Wheelchair Mission, a service organization that makes and ships wheelchairs to the disabled and impoverished across the globe.
For a small, hometown church with an average Sunday attendance of just 60 people, Center Midway Presbyterian achieved an above-average VBS mission fund by raising nearly $2,005. It was enough money to provide 27 wheelchairs throughout the world. To date, about 674,095 wheelchairs have been shipped to 86 countries during the past few years.
The Free Wheelchair Mission was founded by Don and Laurie Schoendorfer, who were vacationing in Morocco when they saw a disabled woman struggling to drag herself across a dirt road. Unable to stop thinking about the woman and her struggle when they returned to their California home, the couple began pondering how they could make a difference.
A Columbia University graduate with a doctorate from MIT and more than 50 U.S. patents in the biomedical field, Don Schoendorfer went to work. His goal was to design a cost-effective, basic model that could reach the highest number of disabled, impoverished people in a short amount of time.
Eventually, he walked away from a successful career to found the nonprofit organization Free Wheelchair Mission.
The wheelchairs are designed for use in the rugged terrain of rural and under-resourced areas, and combine the durability of a resin lawn chair with the strength of a custom steel frame, all tucked into a sturdy pair of mountain bike tires.
Each FWM wheelchair costs $71.88 to manufacture and deliver to some of the most remote corners of the globe. It is provided at no cost to the recipient.
“The idea of giving people all around the world this opportunity to transport themselves was so exciting and inspiring to the VBS participants,” Pastor Brian Kilbert said. “We showed them videos and gave them the chance to experience what it would be like to not be able to walk or maneuver. The members and the leaders helped us go above and beyond our monetary mission goal, knowing that this cause meant so much to all of us.”
Jennifer Spotti’s children, Isabella, 7, and Dominic, 5, attended the VBS.
“They knew exactly what their mission was and how much they were helping others in other countries,” Spotti said. “They were so excited to raise so much money. They only expected to raise enough money to make five wheelchairs, and they actually made enough to make 27.”