by KAREN LAGRANGE COX
UPDATE
The first twenty-five donation boxes have been shipped to Trinidad. Unfortunately, the person in Trinidad who was supposed to make the boxes passed away. As a result, the two Rotary Clubs found a distributor in Florida to ship the acrylic donation boxes to Trinidad. Once the amount of tariff tax is paid to clear the shipment into Trinidad, the Rotary Club of Youngsville will look to send additional donation boxes to Trinidad.
ORIGINAL
The Rotary Club of Youngsville is undertaking its first international project to help support the Rotary Club of Felicity/Charlieville in Trinidad and Tobago in its mission of bringing wheelchairs from the United States to the club in Trinidad. The Rotary Club of Felicity/Charlieville considers itself the “Wheelchair Club,” as it is known for providing wheelchairs to its residents in need of mobility.
In support of the Rotary Club of Felicity/Charlieville with its wheelchair funding, the Rotary Club of Youngsville will contribute up to $2,000 to the club’s fundraising efforts. The contribution will go toward the Club’s purchase of acrylic collection boxes for future wheelchair funding. The collection boxes will replace the old metal boxes at various businesses that belong to the Club.
The Rotary Club of Felicity/Charlieville collaborates with Chair the Love (CL), a licensed non-profit organization (501c3) in Longwood, Florida, that works with third-world countries that have limited resources to provide wheelchairs for mobility-impaired citizens to help them regain their independence. CL negotiates prices with wheelchair manufacturers in China and pays half of the cost. CL partners with Rotary Club organizations and government entities to cover half the cost of shipping containers to send the wheelchairs to Trinidad. The total cost of a container of wheelchairs and the shipping is typically around $28,000 to ship to Trinidad.
The Rotary Club of Felicity/Charlieville was established fifteen years ago. The club services the needs of the less fortunate in central Trinidad. To date, the club has raised funds to freely distribute more than 4,000 wheelchairs to underserved communities and persons in the region across Barbados, St. Kitts, Nevis, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua, Guyana, with Trinidad and Tobago being the largest beneficiary.
Trinidad and Tobago are islands located off the northern edge of the South American mainland. Trinidad is mostly industrial, while its sister island, Tobago, focuses more on tourism.
