This story comes from our dear friend Robert K of Bring it Back to Kids in Viet Nam:

Having suffered from inborn bandy legs for 58 years, Le Van always felt shameful when being asked about married life. “Who would marry a bandy-legged man like me, I am familiar with single life.” He is now living with his older brother who is married with three children.

When the winter comes, both his legs become painful and he can barely walk one step. “I do not want to ask my brother and nieces for a help, they have to study, have to work to earn for a living, I do not want to be a burden on them. I like to do things all by my self.” However, he sometimes still needs help from his relatives, especially when he wants to visit neighbors and relatives, or play chess with friends. “I always need someone to lead me by my side whenever I have to travel for a long distance, I can not take a long walk.”

Though being disabled, every day he wanders around the village, hoping to be hired to do something, anything, to earn a little money for daily bread. “It is very undependable. When no one has the need for me, that day I have nothing for the meals and I depend on my brother. Sometimes my neighbors ask me to go buy things for them. Then I need speed, I need a wheelchair to roll.”

On the day of the Wheelchair Distribution, he was thrilled and wanted to express his happiness to everyone. “From now on, I can travel more comfortably in my village to be hired much more and I can support myself.” Le Van climbed into his wheelchair and rolled home himself with his strong hands. 

This story comes from one of our pioneer supporters and a constant champion, Susan Shaw:

Don asked me to tell you why I am involved with the Free Wheelchair Mission. Here is my story:

One night back in 2002 I attended Mariners Church. As I walked out, I met Don standing behind his simple wheelchair that he just recently designed at the time. He proceeded to describe his mission and his dream of providing wheelchairs to the needy. Well, I stood there and stared at this simple wheelchair.

My business in scuba diving apparel requires me to travel to unusual and mostly poor countries. I thought about the helplessness I have witnessed throughout my travels. Was this a possible opportunity to help them? I just stood there. My mind was spinning. It was one of those moments that you read about! I knew this is what I had been searching for. I went home to think about how and where I could somehow make a difference. I chose Fiji. I knew Fiji was my choice of countries and that’s when my personal mission had begun.

I returned to church the next morning to take photos of the wheelchair and tell Don my plan. I wanted to raise money for wheelchairs.

That was the beginning, but there is no end to this story. I have now personally delivered over 2760 wheelchairs to Fiji. I stated my goal on Fiji’s national TV news: I promised that everyone in Fiji who needs a wheelchair will receive one.

When I visit the people of Fiji in their simple, impoverished homes, I tell them that there are people in far away places that care about them and love them. They are speechless. The wheelchair gives them instant mobility and pride, and their family most of all relishes their happiness.

I used to ponder why I am blessed with so many gifts and opportunities. Why wasn't I one of those needy? I didn't earn my blessings, so why am I singled out to be fortunate? I believe that the answer is to return my gifts in numerous ways to those who are without. There is nothing more motivating to me than witnessing the instant transformation that occurs when someone who has been immobilized by illness or injury is lifted off the ground and into a wheelchair. I feel blessed to hold their hand, pray for them and most of all, give them hope!

There is nothing in my life that has given me such reward. I continue to receive the best blessing of all, giving!

In Memory of Viliame:
When he was 16 he became paralyzed from the waist down in a rugby accident. I found him 10 years later in the rehab hospital suffering with bed sores. He couldn't sit down, but I gave him a wheelchair for when he got better. I just learned that he passed away last month.

The following is a message from President & Founder Don Schoendorfer as he and Michael Bayer are set to ride 3,000 miles across the country:

Today, I start the Ride for Mobility. I will ride my bicycle starting in New York and ending in California on June 16th. 

Fifty six days away from home, over 3,500 miles, against the wind, snow back east, rain, crossing the desert, 58 years old, and on a bicycle. In case you are wondering, these are the most common reasons I hear for why I should not be doing this.

One hundred million of the poorest people on earth wait for a wheelchair. These are the best one hundred million reasons why I should be doing this.

By the time you read this, we may be at Reader's Digest headquarters celebrating our start, or we may be on our first leg, leaving New York City for California. It could be a beautiful spring day, or we could be facing rain and wind and maybe even snow. Such a contrast pretty much sums up life. Years ago I spent almost as much time planning life as I did living life. I know things are different now. I know God makes the plans. I am so blessed to be surrounded by tremendous people who think this same way. God has enabled us to provide 230,000. 

How do we reach a million? My best answer right now is to have faith and go and tell our story through the grass roots of this our beautiful country, and to do it on bicycles. We will be escorted by an artistically decorated RV and equally stunning SUV. Dr. Mike and I will stop wherever we can find listeners. We will try our best to melt their hearts with our stories, just like we have melted yours. 

People ask me how I will deal with the boredom of riding a bicycle for hundreds of hours. For me this is a great opportunity to remember the faces of the millions of people we have served, to wonder how they are doing, and to pray for them. 

Will we capture the hearts of this nation, or will our accomplishments be limited to very sore muscles and stories of agony and despair? What we know is that we will do our best to fight the good fight. Please pray for us. Please pray for our families. Please pray for those who come along side to join us in this adventure, as we ride for those who cannot walk.

You can track our progress as we ride across the country on our web site at www.ride4mobility.org. 

Stay with us.

We biked another 100 miles yesterday.It was an unusually hard day as we crossed over the Appalachian Mountains in southern Pennsylvania. We faced 7 degree grades that went on for miles, with rain clouds threatening us.

We have covered 400 miles since we left New York and we only have 3,100 miles to go!

This story is about Steve and Nancy Bray: They let us use their 40 foot recreational vehicle (RV) as a support vehicle for our Ride for Mobility campaign. Steve is challenging the employees of his company (Power Plus) to be fund-raisers and ride with us too.They created their own WEBSITE for fund raising for us.Though she is not riding, Ronda (Steve's assistant) is doing tremendous work managing their fundraising from the home office.

Steve and Nancy are also riding with Mike and me for the first 500 miles. They have been so encouraging this week, and believe me, we have had our share of challenges. It is amazing what can be done when you are blessed with positive people like the Brays. People that believe they are doing God's work and that God can be trusted to handle the details.
During one break I asked them why they are so committed to making our Ride for Mobility campaign a success. Steve recalled the story of what General Patton said when he was asked to explain his leadership style. Patton put a piece of string on the table and asked the interviewer to push the string from the end. It all bunched up. Then he asked the interviewer to pull the string from the other end. It became straight and moved as a unit. Steve and Nancy live by this principle. They believe they lead by pulling, and thus the reason for joining us in the beginning of this campaign, to pull it straight on its path across the USA.

Today the Brays must fly home. We will miss them dearly. In a few weeks they will join us again for another 500 miles. We are so blessed by their support. Our string is taunt, straight and moving west! Thank you Steve and Nancy for your faithfulness and encouragement!

The following is a weekly recap from Don on the road:

We were told that perhaps there were 4-6 million people watching the CBS Morning Show when we started our Ride for Mobility campaign April 21. Chris was one viewer. He is a pastor at the Vineyard Church in Wheeling, West Virginia. He was moved.He contacted our office, as he wanted to meet us in Pittsburgh. Pam, our dear ride coordinator went one bold step further, and suggested that we meet him at his church instead. Well, one thing led to another, and Pastor Chris cleared the way to dedicate his Saturday night service to the Free Wheelchair Mission.It is a small church with a congregation of 600 adults.

The congregation loved our mission. They asked great questions. We talked to them for another hour. Senior Pastor John had a message all planned for the next day, but he said he was really moved to talk about getting behind our mission in his three services on Sunday. He called it his “leaving with empty pockets” message.

As we drove back to Pittsburgh I added up the donations - $2635! 

Here is a message I got from Pastor Chris Sunday afternoon:

It was a really moving morning here at the Vineyard. John and I did tag team preaching and it was all about you guys. Well, really it was all about what God is doing through you guys. John woke up around 3am which is unusual for him, and felt like God was speaking to him about the service today: that we were to scrap our plan and let our folks know what you are doing and ask them to give, and give big. We collected pledges, cash and checks. I won't have a total till Tuesday, but I know that it will be more than $2635.

It was such a privilege to get to tell your story and share the vision.Lots of tears, and lots of people wanting to be a part.

Have a great ride today, and keep me posted.I will let you know what our total for the weekend turns out to be.We want to raise enough for a container!

Here it is Wednesday and Pastor Chris just called to tell me the results, after he asked me to sit down. $103,796.60 so far in collections and pledges, and they are not finished!

It makes me want to ride my bicycle down this road and stop the next person I meet and tell them about the Free Wheelchair Mission. ~

Who's Blowin' into The Windy City?

We are heading to Chicago now. We will be in the Chicago area attending events on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday May 9th, 10th and 11th. If you know anyone in Chicago that we should meet, let them know we are coming. Our schedule of events is included below:

Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Mayor Daley Proclamation for Free Wheelchair Mission
12:00 noon – 1:00 p.m.
The Richard J. Daley Center – in the Plaza
50 W. Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois
Open to the public

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Free Wheelchair Mission Reception
Mesón Sabika Restaurant
1025 Aurora Avenue
Naperville, Illinois 60540
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
RSVP to Kathy: 630-983-7292
kastredney@comcast.net
$20 per person

Friday, May 11, 2007
Free Wheelchair Mission Reception
SRAM / World Bicycle Relief
World Wide Headquarters
1333 N. Kingsbury, 4th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60622
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Reception
RSVP to Pam Ortega at (949) 273-8470 x213

Distinguished Guests attending the events:

Don Schoendorfer, President and Founder of Free Wheelchair Mission, and co-founder Dr. Mike Bayer, invite you to join them, along with their special guests, to celebrate the life transforming gift of mobility.

Chris Waddell - Para Olympian. Chris has won more Paralympics medals (12) than any male skier in history. He’s one of the few athletes ever to win Paralympic medals in both Winter and Summer Games.

Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah - of Emmanuel’s Gift. Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, was born in Ghana. His story was told in a heart-warming movie entitled, Emmanuel’s Gift. He also participated as a runner last February at the Pacific Shoreline Run for Mobility in Huntington Beach, California.

Please join these four inspirational men as they share with us their stories and images, of hope and good works around the globe.

The following narrative is from Don on the road.

Tranquil Amish Farm Scene in Pennsylvania

Though I am not a breakfast person, the egg, ham, and cheese croissant tasted really good. I was in too much of a hurry to wait for the coffee to cool, so I dumped out the top two inches and replaced it with ice. A two-minute breakfast and down Route 6 West I went. It was cold as I rode out of Napoleon, Indiana - 47 degrees F at 8:30 AM. The landscape was green on the bottom and blue with heaven-white clouds on top of a flat horizon . . . The road became very friendly, with a wide, smooth shoulder and little traffic. The few cars I saw were headed to one of many small churches of various denominations. Some of the churches had their doors open, and I could hear the organ and the singing. I felt irreverent, riding a bicycle when I should be inside, among the congregation. But then I realized something so magnificent I had a hard time concentrating on my path: I was in God’s church. His church was completely surrounding me. Here I was, borrowing the body He lent me, riding His bicycle on His road, breathing His air, and feeling His wind on my face. And even more powerful was the feeling that I was doing His work. We are like the town criers of long ago. The news we shout is God’s news, and our audience must hear it many times before the tide will turn—many times and many ways.

So I got to be in God’s church all yesterday morning, receiving honks and thumbs-up when people drove past us and waves from people working on their lawns. There was not a boring moment!

I feel so blessed.

God Bless, Don

The following is a weekly account from Don on the road.

A special thanks to Kathy and Dale, Carol and Blake, Erin and Jerry for putting together so many events for us in Chicago. And thanks, also, to Chris and Emmanuel for coming so far to help us! We are in Kansas City now. Last Sunday we left Chicago with Emmanuel from Ghana, Chris Waddell and Erin Egan from Park City, and Robert and Tamara - some friends we met in Chicago. It was a really neat reminder of how much Free Wheelchair Mission is about “all of us – riding together”. Our guests left, and Mike and I proceeded through Illinois and Missouri. We made a side trip to accept a check for $500 from Galesburg High School. Among the students was a girl from Peru who had recently been adopted by an American family. She began to cry as she let her memories drift back in time to share with her peers how bad conditions are for the poor in Peru. “I can’t believe that anyone actually cares about the people in Peru. I am really happy that guys like you are helping them.”

Zip forward a few days to the Ozarks, where the mountains are like waves on the ocean, all about the same height. When you get to the top of any one of them, you can see all the rest. In the morning you can see where you will be the next evening. While riding up a long, steep grade I spotted a turtle in the middle of the opposite lane. I quickly dismounted and waved down an on-coming pickup, as he would have clearly finished

off that poor turtle. He put his emergency flashers on to stop anyone behind him, and I escorted the turtle to the grassy slope. Then I heard a voice from the pickup: “Son, didn’t I see you on TV a while back? Man, you’ve come a long way!” I agreed, told him how beautiful Missouri is, and asked if he would take some of our literature. “I want to share this with my friends,” he said.

People we meet find our mission fascinating. Our challenge is to melt the hearts of 20 million of them. God, thank you for girls from Peru and turtles from the Ozarks! It is through them that our job will be done.

The following is this week's account from Don on the road.

As we cycle across the country to complete our Ride for Mobility campaign, we have learned that one of our toughest enemies is invisibility. Our goal and our mission are unknown to most of our fellow Americans, and we struggle to make them visible through the screen of daily life and the infinite media messages that compete for our attention. As we pass through the serene countryside of the central and southwest United States, images of desperation created by physical disability seem so distant and abstract. Yet our team knows these images-- all too well. They are what keep us going. As our muscles scream for mercy, we feel the pain of the disabled, and the thought of their suffering drives us on to finish those last few miles of each day.

But there are victories. They come when we reach someone with our message, when our cause takes center stage and speaks to the masses. The mayor of Garden City won just such a victory for us when he spoke of our efforts before a crowd, saying:

When I read their story I thought to myself: what am I doing to help someone less fortunate than me? I challenge this city to raise the funds for a container. Let’s help Mike and Don succeed here, and help these, the poorest of the poor.

Another victory came when Dennis, also of Garden City, said:

Thank you for all you have done for our community and for the world, as you make a difference – one wheelchair at a time. You have certainly lifted up a lot of us that have been sitting back in the shadows.

As we ride, we will continue to pray that he can bring the physically disabled poor out of the shadows and make them visible to all who have the capacity and will to help.

The following is this week's account from Don on the road.

I know a lot of you are following our Ride for Mobility campaign, and the ride certainly monopolizes our thinking these days too. We are resting now in Phoenix, where we have TV and radio interviews, a church presentation, and a press conference. Sunday we head out to cross the desert - where we will face some new challenges: strong winds and 110 F + temperatures. We so look forward to reaching home, to be with our families and friends once again! We also hope all of you who can will join us either in Duarte for the last 40 miles (11:00AM), along the PCH for the last 10 miles, or at Mariners Church (2:00PM) for our ending celebration. It will be a slow, easy ride

The ride from Kansas to Phoenix was tough. We crossed the continental divide at 7,800 feet and had to go over a many other mountain passes. The total accumulated climb was just short of 40,000 feet! Going downhill demands concentration. Coasting down at 40 MPH make us feel like we are flying, but a wrong move would be disastrous. Going uphill demands concentration of a different sort. Then we feel like we are the slowest moving objects on earth. Here the challenge can make or break us. We have to find a rhythm for our legs, our breathing, our water consumption, and our thinking. If we do, the effort becomes enjoyable. 

The thinking part is big. What works for us is thinking about the faces of the all people who have smiled as they heard of many wheelchairs you have donated. When our legs ache, our hands go numb, our necks cramp, and our bottoms feel sore, we remember that so many of our disabled brothers and sisters feel like this - every day, living on the ground, waiting, praying, perhaps dreaming of a better life. We pray for them, and as we do, it is as if they reach out and absorb our aches and pains. In spirit, they are out there with us. It is a most incredible thing, but we feel like the recipients of our wheelchairs are all around us, raising their hands to cheer us on, over the peaks.

What we are doing is such a small price for us to pay. I know I have said this before, but each day it gains significance to us. We are almost home already, and THANKS TO YOU, we raised the funds to change 8,545 lives – forever. We have faith we will reach our campaign goal of 15,000 by the time this magnificent ride ends.

Such a small price to pay!

The following is Don's "Wrap-Up" post:

Tomorrow is our last day of our Ride for Mobility campaign. We are resting up for a joyous finish. We will start at 11:00 AM and take up to 3 ½ hours to do the 28 miles, mostly downhill as we follow the San Gabriel River down to the Pacific coast, and then turn south along Huntington Beach to Irvine and Mariners Church, for a reception barbeque where we will recap the highlights of our journey. My dream is that hundreds of you join Mike and me for the last leg of this amazing campaign. We are so thankful to Readers Digest for their support!

The demands of this last week met my expectations. Note the photo showing the temperature on the truck mirror. I am in awe of the capacity God gave the human body. As long as we kept drinking water, crossing the desert and the mountains from Phoenix to here was enjoyable. It is hard to believe how great warm water tastes in the desert!

I learned a lot about myself and a lot about life on this trip. Everywhere we went, people were interested, often fascinated by our mission. We passed out so many of our brochures. Many people donated “on the spot” having just heard about us the first time. Other contributed later, probably after checking out our website.

I am inspired that my fellow Americans have a place in their hearts for the disabled in the developing world. This ride washed the window of my faith and provided me with renewed motivation, that we can place 20,000,000 wheelchairs. We really can. All we need to do is to communicate our mission in enough ways and enough times. We have a solution, our wheelchair, and we have an extremely efficient means to distribute this solution. Our battle is right here, in our own country. $44.40 to change a life – forever.

With every wheelchair we place, we win, we change a life – forever. They get a chance for a better life, we get the joy, and God gets the glory.

Well, our Ride for Mobility had an incredible finish. Our good friends Barry, Tammy and Shannon organized an event Friday evening at a home of very generous supporters, Paul and Liz. Early the next morning Barry organized the “Miracle Ride for Mobility”, a homecoming parade for us with many of the most precious cars in the world. We then raced off to Long Beach where we joined 30 supporters on their bicycles for the last 25 mile ride, ending at Mariners Church.

The reception at Mariners was something we will not forget. It reminded me of what the end of the Tour de France must feel like, though our race is so different. Our race has no end, yet there is extreme happiness and satisfaction all along the road.Ours is a race to get the poorest of the poor off the ground.

Up to now most of my concentration has been placed on those we help in developing countries. This 56 day ride has made me realize the value of what we offer our own country, the USA. We personally met thousands of people on this campaign, and millions more heard us on radio, read about is in newspapers, or saw us on TV.

We are so blessed here at home, and I thoroughly believe for a reason. That reason is to help our brothers and sisters who are not so fortunate. We offer a way to do this, a way to get into the game. It is ever so simple, yet ever so powerful: Change a life forever: $44.40 each!

So far our Ride for Mobility has raised $511,600, enough to bring 11,522 wheelchairs to the poorest of the poor. Thank you all for your support! In addition, we believe this ride the added critical mass of support we need to plan local events in Wheeling, WV; Chicago; Garden City, KS and Phoenix!

The last couple of months our stories have been focused on our Ride for Mobility. All that time we continued to receive heartwarming stories of lives we are changing forever with our humble gift of mobility. Here is one from Sam who is part of our Free Wheelchair Mission team in India:

This article is about the outstanding victory of Litty. It appeared in the Kerala newspaper last month.The title of the article is “Triumph of Victory Against Faith”. It is literally suitable to the successful story of Litty. Litty conquered her disability and fate through her glittering success in recent school examinations.

Litty is one of the inmates of House of Providence, a care center for the deranged. The sister superior of the center found Litty in a hospital when she was six months old. Her parents deserted her due to her disability. She can’t walk or stand. Her hands and legs are too small and they are twisted. Moreover, her hands have no fingers. Alas, she must crawl to get around.

All this aside, Litty is a good student at N.S.S Higher Secondary School. She gets to school by auto-rickshaw, but then must crawl to get around. When we came to know about Litty`s story we rushed to the center and gave her a wheelchair. She no longer needs to crawl.

Litty can write if she holds the pen in both hands at once. She got an outstanding result in these recent examinations, and this opens the door for her to continue her education. We, the team of Free Wheelchair Mission in India, feel very proud of her glittering victory. We want to contribute to her success, along with her presence of mind and confidence. She will be in our prayers and perhaps in yours too. You can see the article about her from a daily news paper and her photograph with a cheerful face.

Greetings from the road!

Below is a sample of what I have been reading these past weeks, billboards along the road:

Pigs and Fresh Pork
Pick up Bed Covers Cheap – Exit 15
Karaoke – 4 nights a week
Old Fashioned Sodas, only 5 miles ahead
Funerals by Paul – The best way to go

These one-line stories help me through the day. They are always short, easy to grasp, sometimes humorous, sometimes sad. Some make me hungry. Some make me wonder.

As I write this I sit inside our moving billboard. Our one line story is unique:

“Transforming Lives through the gift of Mobility” = $44.40

I wonder what people think when they see us out in the road or parked at Mother’s Diner (the only restaurant within 40 miles), dressed in canary colors, sweating, and riding bicycles. I bet the story of our sighting is odd enough to repeat. I estimate that each day in the country hundreds of people notice us on the road, more notice us during our stops, and we talk to around 30 people and hand out literature to ten people. In the cities it could be ten times this, and when we do secure media coverage, many times more (millions for our CBS Morning Show).

Today I faced 25 mile per hour head winds, and I rode through two rain storms. Farm windmills turned so fast I could not see the blades. At times it seemed like the wind was going to push me backwards. Is our effort worth the reward? If all we wanted to do was place 100,000 wheelchairs a year, we’d be better off staying home and focusing on Orange County, California. But that is not us. We need to get to 1,000,000 wheelchairs a year, and then, more. For that, we need Kansas. We need Pennsylvania. We need Illinois and Missouri. We need people in America to talk about these guys riding bicycles for people who cannot walk. They call themselves “Free Wheelchair Mission”.

Lord, if this is what it takes, riding against the wind in the rain and up hills is a small price to pay for people who cannot. ~ Don