Wheelchair Foundation

The Wheelchair Foundation (WF) is a non-profit organization founded in June 2000 by real estate developer Ken Behring, and based in Danville, California. The foundation partners with donors (individuals, groups and companies) to provide wheelchairs to people who need them but can not afford them, mostly in developing nations. As of September 2008, the WF network has delivered over 750,000 wheelchairs to people in need in 150 nations.

The foundation partners with various service organizations, including Rotary Clubs, the Knights of Columbus and Sister Cities International, to raise the funds for the wheelchairs, to staff wheelchair distributions, and to deliver the wheelchairs around the world.

The WF International Board of Advisors includes a number of current and former heads of state and celebrities, including co-chairs Juan Carlos and Sophia of Spain, as well as Mikhail Gorbachev and Nelson Mandela.

The mission of the foundation allows children to go to school, adults to go to work and provide for their families and the elderly to get out of a bed that they may have been in for dozens of years. A wheelchair delivers Hope, Mobility and Freedom.

Independent organizations that make up the Wheelchair Foundation mission are the Canadian Wheelchair Foundation and Wheelchair Foundation UK. WF Australia also existed as an independent entity until 2008 but is now just a project of the Rotary Club of Gosford West (NSW).

The great success of this international relief mission can be credited to the thousands of volunteers and dedicated supporters around the world who have embraced the idea of providing mobility in an immediate and tangible way to people without the means to acquire a wheelchair.

One of the most common statements from wheelchair recipients is that their prayers have just been answered!

External links

* [http://www.wheelchairfoundation.org/ Wheelchair Foundation official website]