FOODBANK LAKESIDE AND CHAPALA SUNRISE ROTARY
By Leissa Gebert, July 2021
Last month FoodBank Lakeside was honored to be a part of something very special. We were invited along with Chapala Sunrise Rotary to locate people in the Chapala community who would benefit from a donation of brand new wheelchairs from an organization in Florida called Chair The Love
The chairs were delivered from Florida by Glen Mather, Director of Chair The Love and Augie Byllott, Container Club Ambassador for Chair The Love. That beautiful smiling face in the middle is our own, Christine Philipson, co-founder of FoodBank Lakeside.
We quickly sprang into action! The wheelchairs were scheduled for delivery on June 18th. Chair The Love needed our list submitted before the delivery. From the families that FoodBank Lakeside serves; we had 20 on a waiting list. Visits to the homes and interviews were quickly conducted.
The chairs arrived at Palapa Don Juan in Chapala at 9am the morning of June 18th; in boxes and ready to assemble. Volunteers from all three organizations arrived and went to work. By 9:30am the wheelchairs had been assembled and the tires had been pumped up ready for our recipients to arrive.
Everyone’s hearts were so full of happiness just seeing how many people were helped that day. Eleven of the donated chairs went to Foodbank Lakeside families and the remaining nine were given to Chapala Sunrise Rotary. Of the 11 we distributed, eight went to Chapala, two to San Nicolas and one to Riberas. Many of these folks had to rely on family members to carry them; were forever on crutches or were even resigned to using cardboard to slide from place to place. Knowing how their lives have now been changed was so incredibly rewarding.
The day ended as quickly as it started. After placing the 20 new wheelchairs into happy homes in Chapala, we all left with out hearts full of joy while contemplating what an honor it was to be a part of something so wonderful.
Here are some happy pictures for you to enjoy of that day. We hope it will fill your hearts as it did ours and…maybe you will see someone you know!