Wheelchair Program

The American Wheelchair Mission is a non-profit organization with a goal to deliver brand new free wheelchairs and mobility aids to physically disabled children, teens, and adults throughout the world who are without mobility or the means to acquire a wheelchair.  With a strong focus on the needs of the Americas, the American Wheelchair Mission will continue to change the lives of entire families with the gifts of hope, dignity, freedom, and independence.  This noteworthy program is led by Jack Cleary (email:  horizonfinancialsvc@earthlink.net). WHEELCHAIR MISSION PARISH DRIVES Change Lives and Increase Membership Since 2007, Knights across the U.S. have been having “Wheelchair Sunday” parish drives to raise funds for the delivery of wheelchairs.  Beginning with Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Pasadena, California where Fr. Gerard O’Brien coined the phrase “Wheelchair Sunday,” this program has spread to several states and is catching on quickly. The first 5 parish drives in Southern California raised enough money to sponsor the delivery of 1,000 brand new wheelchairs and added more than 150 new Knights to the local membership. With a presentation and video about the mission during the homily and then a second collection, parishioners have become involved and thanked the pastors for bringing this wonderful ministry to them. Now we really know what they do.”  Young men commented that they had never considered the Knights because they really did not know enough about them, but in every parish young gentlemen have joined councils as a result of these drives. One of the most common and wonderful reactions we receive from the recipients of the wheelchairs and their families is that we have just answered their prayers.  Tears of joy flow with a heartfelt embrace or clasp of hands, and we know we are doing God’s work on earth. Children with physical disabilities can go to school for the first time, adults can go to work and provide for their families, and the elderly can get out of a bed they may have been in for years and rejoin society. To learn more about how you can hold a “Wheelchair Sunday” parish drive at your church, please contact Brother Dan Moberg at dmoberg@amwheelchair.org or (208) 457-0745.   Please view the official Wheelchair Sunday booklet www.amwheelchair.org, or to download a copy for printing and sharing with your local Knights council.

Program Chairman