Rotary Distributes Wheelchairs Across Belize

This weekend, over two hundred persons who are immobile will receive wheelchairs from members of the Rotary Club of Belize. The distribution around Belize comes through a donation from the Rotary Club of Naples, Florida, and the Belizean Americans who live there. Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children, Rossana Briceño says the folks in Naples contacted her and made the offer for Belizeans who need the wheelchairs. But the whole opportunity came about when one man in Florida had an accident and was left immobile. His son decided to start a foundation in his honour to buy wheelchairs for people who need. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

One man’s misfortune many years ago in Naples, Florida, led to a positive opportunity for Belizeans who have mobility issues. John Danner is in Belize along with other Rotary club members from Naples. They raised funds for the Howard S. Danner, Jr., Wheels for Wheels Cycling Challenge. Danner Jr says the fundraisers are held in honour of his father, who lost his legs because of a traffic accident at the age of sixty. And when he, John, turned sixty, he began the charity work to keep his father’s memory alive.

 

John Danner, Founder, the Howard S. Danner Jr., Foundation

“People gather up pledges and then they ride a certain amount of miles. Whatever they choose, they collect the money and it all goes into the fund. And this year we raised enough money for a shipping container of wheelchairs. Dad was in an accident, he was hit by a hit and run driver and left in the road and was paralyzed for seventeen years in a wheelchair. And I determined when I turned sixty, which is about the age when he was hit, that a good way to do something in his memory would be to raise money for wheelchairs.”

 

The opportunity materialized for Belizeans in need when Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children, Rossana Briceño, was contacted by the Ixchel Foundation, and collaboration was made among them, the Rotary Club of Naples, Florida, as well as from Belizean Americans living there.

 

Rossana Briceño, Special Envoy, Development of Families & Children

“The CEO from the Ixchel Foundation in Naples had reached out and we have a large community of Belizeans in Naples, Florida, and they’re always trying to connect and see how we can partner. So when she reached out and she said, “We have a lot of wheelchairs that we want to distribute through the Wheels for Wheels Foundation,” I said, “Well, let’s connect with the Rotary Clubs.”

 

 

Gustavo Garcia is the President of the Rotary Club of Belize. He says the twenty-year-old effort by Rotary has seen more than three thousand Belizeans receive wheelchairs. Who gets the wheelchairs, he says, depends on who needs them most.

 

 

 

 

Gustavo Garcia, President, Rotary Club of Belize

“We have a system to verify if they’re going to have a good use of the wheelchairs or if they need it, and we try to cover as much as we can. We always need more help, that’s why we do the raffles for iPhones, trucks and everything, to be able to do the distribution. But actually this is a teamwork We work with on this case. It’s going to be Wheels for Wheels and several clubs all around the world.”

 

 

Briceño says she will store a few of the wheelchairs so that whenever someone needs one, she can be reached through her office, or through Rotary Club members. Marion Ali for News Five.