Wheelchairs for Those in Need
A
Sponsored by the Hollister Rotary Club
In September of 2001, Anna Miller, incoming President for the SBHS Interact club, attended a Presidents meeting where she heard about the Wheelchair Foundation. The SBHS Interact Club began their 2001-2002 efforts by establishing a goal of earning enough money to purchase 20 wheel chairs and with the Wheelchair Foundations match of 20 chairs; they would be responsible for 40 wheel chairs. They met this goal.
Then in the spring of 2002, we were
offered the chance to send two Interact students to
As the 2002-2003 school year began this past fall, Larry Barr, the
Hollister Rotary Interact Advisor, challenged the Interactors to double their
efforts of 2001-2002. During this first meeting, we established a
Figure 1. Picture of wheelchair recipients.
stretch goal of 80 wheelchairs.
The first 40 chairs would come from the SBHS Interactors and then there would
be the matching 40 chairs from the Wheelchair Foundation.
In November 2002, Ms. Celen Zepeda,
a SBHS Interactor, and Larry Barr, were asked by Mr. Russ Danielson to give a
Wheelchair program for the Morgan Hill Rotary Club. We have since been told
that during this lunch program, the two individuals were responsible for
approximately 50 more wheelchairs being donated.
In March of 2003, the SBHS
Interactors collected the funds they had raised and added them to the matching
funds that had been committed throughout the year. Combining these funds with
the matching Foundation funds, the SBHS students were responsible for raising
enough money to purchase, collectively over 120 wheel chairs this year. Nearly
tripling their prior years performance.
Their efforts over the past two
years and accounting for the Morgan Hill donation, these students have raised
enough money and matching funds to account for over 210 wheel chairs.
In addition, Hollister Rotary,
will be sponsoring two students,
Ms. Nicole Conely and Ms. Amy
Cullinan, for their attendance at the Ghana International RYLA this August 3-9.
Dr. Jon Grant has told Hollister
Rotary representatives that a container of wheelchairs is well on its way to
Ghana and that these two students will be able to help with the distribution of
these chairs.
This is a remarkable story and a
story of what our youth are doing to make this a better planet to live on. Too
often we only hear about the depressing stories of youth. And this is a story
worthy of repeating.
In addition, this Interact Club
from SBHS had several other worthy projects during the year. They are briefly
listed as follows:
- SBHS
adopted two young Brazilian students and placed them with foster families
during the past year. This project will be repeated again next year.
- Collected
nearly 1,700 cans of food during their annual Halloween canned food drive.
These cans were then donated to the local community pantry.
- They
participated in the Relay for Life effort in the fall of 2002.
- Approximately
twice a month, these students traveled to
- The
club participated in the Homeless day, by providing 100 personal hygiene
kits for homeless people in the
Hollister Rotary has been working
with the SBHS Interact club for many years now and we have never seen a more
active group of young adults. They are focused and goal driven. Their work is
done quietly and with very little recognition. We are proud to have the
privilege of working with these remarkable young adults.