AGENCY GIVES POOR CHILDREN A CHANCE TO GET AROUND.Byline: Ana Young Daily News Staff Writer The first things First Things is a monthly ecumenical journal concerned with the creation of a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society" (First Things website). you see in the airy 12,000-square-foot warehouse are the flags hanging from the ceiling - Mexico, Costa Rica Costa Rica (kŏs`tə rē`kə), officially Republic of Costa Rica, republic (2005 est. pop. 4,016,000), 19,575 sq mi (50,700 sq km), Central America. , Nicaragua, Ukraine. Beneath them, working diligently at one of 10 work tables, 8-year-old Ali Richard uses towels, toothbrushes and cleaning solution to scrub and shine a child-size wheelchair with red trim, detaching and reattaching armrests and footrests to get at every nook and cranny Noun 1. nook and cranny - something remote; "he explored every nook and cranny of science" nooks and crannies detail, item, point - an isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole; "several of the details are similar"; "a point of information" . A youngster in Redlands outgrew out·grew v. Past tense of outgrow. the chair and donated it to Wheels for Humanity, the nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. founded by Ali's father, David Richard. Once it's spiffed up, it will be sent to a 4-year-old Down syndrome Down syndrome, congenital disorder characterized by mild to severe mental retardation, slow physical development, and characteristic physical features. Down syndrome affects about 1 in every 730 live births and occurs in all populations equally. patient named Pedro, who lives in Boaco, Nicaragua, about 50 miles from Managua. ``I saw the picture of the little boy who's getting the chair,'' Ali said. ``He was so cute, but he couldn't move without his mommy.'' Wheels for Humanity cleans, refurbishes and ships donated wheelchairs to people disabled by disease or, often, land mines, in developing countries where the $800 to $5,000 cost of a new wheelchair often exceeds the annual per-capita income. The flags flying in the agency's warehouse represent the many countries where Wheels for Humanity has sent its chairs. Wheels for Humanity is among the nonprofit agencies that the Daily News is profiling for its annual Season of Sharing project, a fund-raising campaign Noun 1. fund-raising campaign - a campaign to raise money for some cause fund-raising drive, fund-raising effort crusade, campaign, cause, drive, effort, movement - a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported that benefits local charities. Readers interested in helping Wheels for Humanity may clip the accompanying coupon and send their donation directly to the organization to be used during the holidays and throughout the year. The Daily News receives none of the money. Richard hopes to be able to use donations to hire a mechanically inclined manager to train volunteers to fix the donated wheelchairs. Money also will be used to send Richard and a team of experts - including a physical therapist, rehabilitation specialist, nurse and translator - during a coming trip to Nicaragua. A Managua warehouse already contains 200 other wheelchairs - shipped via a donated 40-foot container - that will be distributed, along with the little red chair for Pedro. Wheels for Humanity started 10 years ago when David Richard's brother, Mark, acquired a wheelchair for a Guatemalan polio victim he saw dragging herself across the road from her cardboard hut. The agency has grown significantly, and since its incorporation in 1996 has distributed about 1,400 wheelchairs around the world. David Richard is always on the lookout for in search of; looking for. See also: Lookout more volunteers - especially if they've ever used a screwdriver. ``One (individual) who volunteers seven hours a week can only fix one wheelchair,'' he said. ``That's how much time we have invested in the wheelchair - to repack Re`pack´ v. t. 1. To pack a second time or anew; as, to repack beef; to repack a trunk. s> the bearings, to (repair) the wheels, to put new upholstery on - and each wheelchair's different.'' David Richard operates on the belief that help will come when it's needed. CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO Ali Richard, 8, refurbishes a wheelchair for Wheels for Humanity, a project her father founded to aid disabled Third World children. Phil McCarten/Daily News |
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