The wheelchair
project is one of the most successful and long-running initiatives. It began in
1993 and is still going strong today. The original idea took hold after members
realized that there was an urgent need for wheelchairs in the Johannesburg area.
The call for wheelchairs was sent out
and Rushmoor Rotary in the United Kingdom took up the cause. Wheelchairs were
collected from agencies such as the Red Cross and national health hospitals who
had been storing old wheelchairs in depots across southern England. The first
consignment of 56 wheelchairs arrived, courtesy of Swiss Air. Thereafter,
wheelchairs were dispatched by sea.
When they arrive Northcliff Rotary
collects the wheelchairs and distributes them countrywide through affiliated
Rotary clubs in other districts. More than 22 000 wheelchairs have been
provided to worthy recipients across South Africa, totally free of charge.
