Argentine and U.S. NGOs Partner to Donate Wheelchairs

September 29, 2009

Wheelchair donation.

On September 29, Public Affairs Officer Robert Howes attended the ceremony to donate 150 wheelchairs for public hospitals in the City of Buenos Aires and individuals organized by CILSA (Centro de Integración Libre y Solidario Argentino) and the U.S. organization “Free Wheelchair Mission,” represented by Tim Morgan. 

Also attending the ceremony were the Health Minister of the city of Buenos Aires, Jorge Lemus; National Deputy-Elect Gabriela Michetti; and the General Director of Legislative Issues and Government Control Units Juan Lungwitz, who together with CILSA authorities distributed 16 wheelchairs among individuals present at the event.  In addition, other 220 wheelchairs were donated in San Vicente (province of Misiones) and Villa Totoral (province de Córdoba) which add up to a total of 550 wheelchairs donated.  

As of May 2009, the Free Wheelchair Mission has delivered more than 400,000 wheelchairs to 72 countries and for the first time is making a donation in Latin America.

CILSA
CILSA is an NGO founded in Santa Fe, Argentina, in 1966 to promote the integration of people belonging to the most vulnerable sectors of Argentine society, such as children with no means of livelihood and people with disabilities.

Free Wheelchair Mission
Founded in 2001, the Free Wheelchair Mission is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to providing wheelchairs for the impoverished disabled in developing nations. Headquartered in Irvine, California, FWM works around the world in partnership with a vast network of humanitarian, faith-based and government organizations, sending wheelchairs to hundreds of thousands of disabled people, providing not only the gift of mobility, but of dignity, independence, and hope.