This week’s story comes from right here in Orange County.  So often we focus on the delivery side of our mission, and how we change lives with our simple gift.  We change lives here too, in our own back yard.  Last Sunday we had our first ever marathon, “Run for Mobility”.  Hundreds of our runners joined Pacific Shoreline for their 10th annual Superbowl Sunday marathon.  We raised over $150,000 and brought in over 1000 new donors!  Below are some photo highlights. 

So, you may ask, “How are you changing lives here in Orange County?”  We do by bringing attention to the needs of the poorest of the poor, the physically handicapped in developing counties.  It feels good to finish a race, or even a 5K walk.  But our participants knew they were running or walking with legs that were strong, and bodies that worked.  Every mile they passed one of our wheelchairs and a huge photo poster of a smiling race of someone in India, Cambodia, wherever sitting in dignity for the first time.  Every participant knew they were there that early morning for someone on the other side of this earth that must crawl or be carried. 

I had the privilege of pushing 4 year old Peyton in her wheelchair with Emmanuel Yeboah of Ghana.  In the words of Peyton’s mom, Penny:

 “What I enjoyed most about this day is the way Free Wheelchair Mission has touched me.  We need to do more to raise funds, to help change lives around the world.  What they do is an inspiration to us all.” 

...and the floodgates opened in the fog.

Penny, Don, Peyton and Emmanuel