Looking for a wheelchair for a 16 year old boy

[Raven]

A Kids Defense Team report. We help children in need. I was reading an article in our local paper about a 16 year old boy that had a custom made wheelchair for him because of his disabilities. He was riding along a road in his wheelchair when a hit and run driver hit him. Even though he is basically okay, his wheelchair was destroyed. We are contacting businesses to see if they would donate a wheelchair to Jacob Hall. It would be a tax deduction for you and giving this young boy more freedom to move about on his own. Jacob’s insurance company thinks the hit and run driver should pay for the new wheelchair but they can not locate the hit and run driver. Could you find it in your heart to donate a custom made wheelchair to Jacob. You can read more about Kids Defense Team at www.kidsdefenseteam.com (http://www.kidsdefenseteam.com/) or contact Raven at www.talkmarylandforum.com (http://www.talkmarylandforum.com/) Thank you for your time.


If anyone knows of a place where I could get a wheelchair please respond to this thread. I have been in contact with the mother of this boy and he is getting bed sores and such because of the loss of not having a wheelchair. His wheelchair would need to be customized to his disabilities.

[Peggy]

I'll sure be on the lookout Raven.

BTW - is there a fund set up at a bank or something for donations toward the wheelchair?

[Kent]

Many posts of The American Legion have spare wheelchairs on site. Maryland has an outstanding Legion family organization and I would suggest that you open the phone book and call every one until you find a post that can/will help. The chair might be used and not fancy, but at least it'll work for now.

Now, if they help, here's another thing I suggest. Ask to speak to the 2nd vice commander. They are in charge of post/squadron/unit activities and most times chair fund raisers, or even the post commander can get things started if you get him/her on board, and they'll take the news to the membership meeting and depending on the post, the people and the money required to get a custom chair, they might either flat out buy one or hold a fund raiser to get one.

I know from my own dealings, that something like this is something that we'd jump on and take off running, and the thing about most things like this with The American Legion, Sons of The American Legion or Auxiliary, is there is usually no red tape and no BS, they want to know what's needed, who it will help, if anyone is a vet or not, not always a must by the way, and how fast it's needed.
So many people think that when someone says The Legion, that it's just a bunch of old vets drinking beer and being dunks and such, but that is so not the truth. My Squadron (SAL) has held a fund raiser on a single night and raised $13,000, and the following business day we've given it away to some charity or a person in need.

I think if you try this that you'll get a nice surprise. If they have an extra chair, they won't ask for forms to be filled out, they won't ask for personal info except maybe your name, they won't ask for the deed to the house, they'll ask one thing, how soon can you come get it?

[Raven]

No bank yet, I am just starting the process. I am going to start something via paypal.

I'll sure be on the lookout Raven.

BTW - is there a fund set up at a bank or something for donations toward the wheelchair?

[Raven]

The Lions club, which is like a American Legion is willing to donate a used wheelchair but this boy with all his disabilities needs a special wheelchair made just for him. So I think raising money will probably be the way to go. I know the mother said the last wheelchair cost over 3 grand.

Many posts of The American Legion have spare wheelchairs on site. Maryland has an outstanding Legion family organization and I would suggest that you open the phone book and call every one until you find a post that can/will help. The chair might be used and not fancy, but at least it'll work for now.

Now, if they help, here's another thing I suggest. Ask to speak to the 2nd vice commander. They are in charge of post/squadron/unit activities and most times chair fund raisers, or even the post commander can get things started if you get him/her on board, and they'll take the news to the membership meeting and depending on the post, the people and the money required to get a custom chair, they might either flat out buy one or hold a fund raiser to get one.

I know from my own dealings, that something like this is something that we'd jump on and take off running, and the thing about most things like this with The American Legion, Sons of The American Legion or Auxiliary, is there is usually no red tape and no BS, they want to know what's needed, who it will help, if anyone is a vet or not, not always a must by the way, and how fast it's needed.
So many people think that when someone says The Legion, that it's just a bunch of old vets drinking beer and being dunks and such, but that is so not the truth. My Squadron (SAL) has held a fund raiser on a single night and raised $13,000, and the following business day we've given it away to some charity or a person in need.

I think if you try this that you'll get a nice surprise. If they have an extra chair, they won't ask for forms to be filled out, they won't ask for personal info except maybe your name, they won't ask for the deed to the house, they'll ask one thing, how soon can you come get it?

[Kent]

If the lions club, which is nothing like The Legion btw, anyway, if they're willing to do a fund raiser great, go for it.

Just a thought though, with a single call phone call and the idea put forth before a meeting and with a simple motion to do it, we held one fund raiser for a guy that was end stage cancer, and had only his mother and he didn't want to leave her with any bills from his passing, so he'd spent his entire bank account paying off every bill he had and then set her up a small account to help her afterwards, and in talking with him we discovered he didn't have any funds left to pay for his funeral, not even a simple plan with the most basic of a coffin. We held a fund raiser for him and in 4 hours raised just shy of $10,000, and towards the end another member of the parent organization came in and asked if we'd raised enough to send him off properly, which we told him we had. He smiled and said that's great, give it all to his mother, he was going to pay for the entire funeral and not just a simple box either. He was a local funeral director and had sent many a vet off in grand style when they had no insurance, so doing this wasn't new, except that he, the guy dying was a son of a vet and not a vet himself.
That's the type of people The Legion family has that no one ever hears about, and that, is why if the lions club falls through or can't act fast enough, that you should invest a phone call to a local post, or get with me and I'll get you in touch with some of the state officers.

[Raven]

Thanks any, help you can give would be appreciated. I will see what I can find out on my end about American Legion. :D


That's the type of people The Legion family has that no one ever hears about, and that, is why if the lions club falls through or can't act fast enough, that you should invest a phone call to a local post, or get with me and I'll get you in touch with some of the state officers.

[Kent]

Raven, I've heard back from my email that the end game for this kids is going to be a happy one, but wasn't provided any details. Any news you can share on this?

Also, he said he hadn't received an email from you as yet, but from the way he talked it seems it's been taken care of.

[Peggy]

This is awesome!

[Raven]

I sent him an email and they raised money for the wheelchair but now the mother needs money for the medical bills that encured. So there is hope. :) At least she is getting the wheelchair. I emailed him that night you told me.

Raven, I've heard back from my email that the end game for this kids is going to be a happy one, but wasn't provided any details. Any news you can share on this?

Also, he said he hadn't received an email from you as yet, but from the way he talked it seems it's been taken care of.

[Raven]

The Rotary Club of Elkton and North East Maryland each donated $1500.00 towards the wheel chair.

The Sheriff in our county has set up a place to send funds

Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church
C/O Pastor Asher Tunik
1713 Liberty Grove Road
Colora MD 21917
Jacob Hall Fund

Because of this they need to raise funds for the medical bills that has encured. The helicopter ride to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore racked up some bills.

P.S. I had to rescue this news from the bottom of my one bird cage. (the newspaper) Bird poop and all :rolleyes:



Raven, I've heard back from my email that the end game for this kids is going to be a happy one, but wasn't provided any details. Any news you can share on this?

Also, he said he hadn't received an email from you as yet, but from the way he talked it seems it's been taken care of.

[Kent]

That's super, and a organization that does a lot of good work and knnows how to let people know it which is vital, and one thing The Legion family fails to do which isn't a good thing. So many people hear "The Legion" and thoughts of drunks and broken homes enter their mind, but while that is a sad part of it, and honestly it's a part of any organization, but with over 5 million members it's going to be there, but, what people don't know is all the tens of millions that The Legion family's raise and give, or better said in some cases, tries to give away each year.
Sure, like anyone, it has it's share of forms and red tape to work past, but not as much as some. And it's like a lot with specialized areas and committees that deal with an area that can get confusing, but not many will take a tackle box filled with $50,000 to a corner in a flooded area of America and sitting in a folding chair at a card table will hand that out to people whose lives were turned upside down by the flooding, with a handshake and a smile.

But in this case, that kid needed help and someone gave it, that's what is important, not who gave it ;)

[Raven]

Yes very true. I will have to remember the American Legion for a grant. I been forever trying to get a grant for my organization. I want to get a Nationwide clothing campaign going for homeless kids. So far I only have collected 75-100 bags of clothes for kids in my area and passed them to homeless shelters for kids that are living there. I want to be a nationwide organization that will give when someone needs it and have a inventory I can pick from when someone calls me and says ok time to ship. I don't have the money to ship because I don't have funding. This will also be in tact for kids who are displaced because of fires or a natural disaster. I also want to keep a stock pile of school supplies on hand because kids can not afford to get the proper school supplies either. I have been doing this for over a year in my home town.

[Kent]

Wow, now that is a heck of an agenda. The Legions CWF isn't going to be able to help much there unless you were to propose a video to produce and send out or booklets and such, they don't handle clothing items, but, what you have outlaid is something that a local Post/Squadron or Unit would get involved with and depending on what else they have going on, might get involved in a big way, again, depending on the level of activity of the post and it's sub groups.

Again, I have an example to offer ;)

I had given a kid a bookmark one day, simple message of Say NO to drugs on it and The Legion and SAL logos on the back, nothing special. A few days later I got a call from a local school asking about it, and if I had any more because some of the other children asked to have one. I asked, how many kids have asked? Got the answer, which was about 10. She told me while it would be great to have a stack of them to put in the school library, she knew I could provide that many. I asked, how many kids are in that school? She said about 450 if memory serves me right. I said now, how many kids are in the total system, all the schools? She told me in ran from 48,000 to 48,500, depending on the year. I said great, thanks for the info and that I'd call her in a few days.

A few days later I called her and let he know I had enough to give one to each of her schools children. She was happy and surprised. Then, I asked her where I could deliver all the boxes so all the kids got one, and that I had a few thousand extra in case. She was taken aback and told me they didn't need a few thousand, that they only had about 450 total. I chuckled and said no, I have enough for the whole district, all the city schools, every kid, 50,000 bookmarks. She started to ask questions like their cost, they had to put it in the budget, that I must have misunderstood and that she was asking for them to be donated, not ordered in mass and such, and she heard me laughing, asked about it and I chuckle now as I type this as I told her, no, these are being donated, not costing the district a dime, that all we ask for is that every child gets at least one asap and that I also had 50,000 each of some teen booklets on abuse, underage drinking, the US Flag Code, copies of the Constitution of the US, and gun protection that we were also giving them.

So you see, with a simple phone call, and to the right person and with a good attitude, you just never know what might come from it. ;)

[Raven]

I do the same with underage drinking and drugs and also internet safety. I give internet safety seminars. I have a box of about 500 internet safety brochures a printer donated to me. So if that school is ever interested let me know, Maryland schools are not interested for some reason.

As for the clothing, I would want just a grant of money so I can personally buy the clothing and keep a stockpile.

Thanks. You are a wealth of information.

She started to ask questions like their cost, they had to put it in the budget, that I must have misunderstood and that she was asking for them to be donated, not ordered in mass and such, and she heard me laughing, asked about it and I chuckle now as I type this as I told her, no, these are being donated, not costing the district a dime, that all we ask for is that every child gets at least one asap and that I also had 50,000 each of some teen booklets on abuse, underage drinking, the US Flag Code, copies of the Constitution of the US, and gun protection that we were also giving them.

So you see, with a simple phone call, and to the right person and with a good attitude, you just never know what might come from it. ;)