Wheelchair Mission Update

Pictured: Brother Knights with Bishop Edward Burns during the Cathedral Guadalupe Wheelchair Drive

Below are Wheelchair Mission activities, of which I am aware, since the last update at the end of January.Please let me know what your councils and dioceses are doing to support the American Wheelchair Mission so that I can include them in future reports.

In February, St. Anthony Council 12300 in Wylie held their first ever Wheelchair Drive and raised $14,635 for 97 wheelchairs. Thanks to Brother Knight Bryan Finley for coordinating the drive and helping at all the masses both weekends. Their funds will be used towards the purchase of a large container of 280 wheelchairs for the CRIT Center in Saltillo, Mexico.

Prince of Peace Council 11716 in Plano held their 10^th Annual Wheelchair Drive and raised $130,311.This exceeds last year’s donation by $904 and is the 3^rd year in a row that the donations have been over $100K.The funds from their drive will provide 280 standard wheelchairs and 100 specialty wheelchairs for the CRIT Center in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Cathedral Guadalupe Council 5538 in Dallas also held their first ever Wheelchair Drive and raised $7,451 for 50 wheelchairs.Thanks to Brother Joe Gonzales for his leadership in coordinating the drive and helping after all the masses.Their funds will be used to provide wheelchairs for their parish and locally.

In March, St. Martin of Tours Council 13133 in Forney also held their first ever Wheelchair Drive and raised $4,413 for 29 wheelchairs.Thanks to Brother Joe Brancaccio for his leadership in coordinating the drive.Their funds will also be used to provide wheelchairs for their parish and locally.

The American Wheelchair Mission released a video of the October 2019 Oaxaca, Mexico Distribution Trip. These wheelchairs were provided by Prince of Peace Catholic Community Council 11716 in Plano. The video was going to be shown at the Texas State Convention. Please feel free to pass it on to all Knights throughout the state. It shows the immediate impact these wheelchairs are making in people's lives and the prayers they are answering. Please take the time, 6 minutes and 42 seconds, to watch the video by clicking on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSFCrFYp-4w or by going to www.amwheelchair.org.You are always welcome to join us on any of these distributions trips at your own expense.

As of April 30^th, the state of Texas has raised $390,474 for 2,603 wheelchairs.The Wheelchair Mission goal for 2019-2020 is to raise $500K to provide 3,333 wheelchairs.

A great way to raise funds for this mission is by having Wheelchair Drives at your parish, but that is not possible right now with the pandemic.Because of the lack of funds from drives, it is more important than ever that each Council is aware of this program and donate at least $150 for one wheelchair.That is the state goal of our Worthy State Deputy Mark Evans.Only 102 out of the 728 councils (14%) in Texas have donated to this mission this fraternal year.

Please email me your donation details, but mail checks and forms to Dan Moberg, American Wheelchair Mission, 2600 E. Seltice Way, Suite A172, Post Falls, ID 83854-7991.Also, please be sure your Council Number and Diocese are on your checks, so that your donation will be properly credited.

If you have any questions, please contact me via email at yankeesweb@tx.rr.com or cell at 214-405-8023.Thank you for your support of this mission and God bless you Texas Brother Knights.