Last Wednesday, our breakfast meeting was held at the Project Shed in Arundel instead of our usual venue at the Surf Club. Wheelchair Trust Chairman Larry Murray and Des La Rance, who invented the concept of making a low-cost wheelchair from discarded bicycles some 27 years ago wanted to showcase the work we do. Our District Governor, Jeff Egan, had intended to visit us in person, but as he lives “on the wrong side” of the border in Tweed Heads, could only join us via Zoom. Still, despite some difficulties getting Zoom to work from the shed, it was a refreshingly invigorating meeting.President Paul Seymour and Neil Thurlow presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Ernie Bargewell for his company’s very significant donation – see separate article above.
DG Jeff briefly elaborated on his major aims for his year, and particularly highlighted his partner Kayleen’s “DG Partner Project”, the ‘Solar Buddy’. In short: this solar-powered device is ideal to provide a very inexpensive light source where no electricity is available. Read all about it in the DG’s August newsletter – click here.
Des La Rance briefly outlined the history of the wheelchair program, from its inception in 1994 to the 10,000th wheelchair shipped last year. Regrettably, technical issues prevented the smooth screening of the video of a Channel 9 broadcast of the initial delivery of 10 wheelchairs to Fiji. Check out our Download Files and Photo Albums on our website for a report on the Fiji delivery in 1997 and various other memorable events.
Last but not least: a big Thank You! to Angus Miller, whose preparation and cooking skills provided us with a yummy bacon, egg and sausage breakfast.
(Photo above by Kristen 'KJ' Jewson)