Saving the Disabled, One at a Time
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Don Schoendorfer does commendable work providing wheelchairs for the world’s disabled (“A Moving Mission,” by Janet Kinosian, Metropolis, July 25). Polio, accidents and land mines ensure that there will be no shortage of recipients.
Unfortunately, Schoendorfer’s re-engineered patio lawn chairs are a short-term bandage that will fail the challenges of dirt paths and rubble roads. The Wheelchair Foundation, another California organization, has found a more durable solution. In the last four years it has provided more than 270,000 solid metal chairs to 129 countries. The chairs stand up to the most arduous conditions in less-developed nations without breaking the bank.
Representing the Rotary Club of Los Angeles, my wife and I have traveled to Angola, El Salvador, Mexico and Ecuador, and we have organized funding for more than 6,000 wheelchairs to 16 other countries. Although we differ on the use of metal versus plastic, Schoendorfer and I agree on the purpose. It’s not the world we are saving--it’s individuals, one at a time.
Marc Leeka
Los Angeles
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