Walk 4 Wheels

Ambassador for Mobility: Lila Lehtola (pictured right, her friend and co-organizer Ally Ryder in the bandana on the left)

Location: Dallas, Texas

Background: Lila has been an active collegiate Ambassador for Free Wheelchair Mission since September 2009. She discovered the issue of global disability after her mom told her stories from a medical mission trip she went on to Honduras. She told Lila the sad stories about people crawling to the hospital, and women at the clinic with back problems from carrying their children vast distances to the clinic because their child didn’t have the wheelchair they needed. After a friend mentioned Free Wheelchair Mission, Lila and her mom researched Free Wheelchair Mission together. They felt the chairs seemed practical and cost efficient, and they decided to create a project to fund a container for Honduras and to help distribute them.

The Story: Lila is an avid athlete and runner, so she decided to hold a Walk 4 Wheels to benefit FWM. The event was held on September 17^th. Participants paid $10 to register and $15 for a t-shirt to join in the walk. There were about 40 participants, and together they raised $1,800.

Her fundraising activities have included “countless bake sales, garage sales, and what we call dress down days at our school where we pay a small fee to wear non-uniform clothes to school and the donation is then given to FWM”. In April 2011, Lila and her mother organized a golf tournament, and was highlighted for her work for FWM. The golf tournament raised $11,600.

Lila’s Passion: “My mom told me of people she saw crawling to get to the hospital because they couldn't walk. This utterly broke my heart because, right before I had this talk with my mom, I had gone on a run and I realized that these children could never run, even if they wanted to.”

Lives Transformed to Date: over 325

Bonus: all Walk 4 Wheels donations came in just in time to be included in FWM’s October Matching Gift Challenge! 

I Run 4 Wheels

Ambassador for Mobility: Jacqueline Anzalone

Event: Long Beach Marathon

Location: Long Beach, CA

The Story: One of the first official local Team Mobility events, the Long Beach Marathon brought Free Wheelchair Mission in front of thousands of people new to us. The two-day Health & Fitness Expo on Friday and Saturday allowed the 50,000 expo visitors to stop by and learn more about the special wheelchair that has changed the lives of so many. As an official featured race charity, FWM was highlighted throughout the day by the expo announcer, and had a prime location in the heart of the expo.

Jacqueline Anzalone was the top FWM runner-fundraiser for this event. This was her fourth time running and fundraising on FWM’s behalf, previously participating in the annual Run for Mobility event at the Surf City Marathon. She was thrilled to learn that FWM was coming to her hometown of Long Beach, CA. She even personalized her official race bib to say “IRUN4WHEELS”!

Jacqueline’s Fundraising Tip: “The key to fundraising is to ask a lot of people for a little bit of money,” she explained. Spreading out the ask to a lot of people means that no one feels obligated or financially uncomfortable about donating, since it’s just a small amount. Her last donation was received when she reached out to her roommate, who hadn’t donated yet, by explaining that she was only $5 shy of her fundraising goal. When Jacqueline woke up the next morning, a crisp $5 was waiting for her on the counter. “A lot of people working together can have a big impact”, she said, which just shows that together, we can lift lives around the world.

Lives Transformed by Jacqueline to Date: over 23 (so far!)

20th Annual Pier to Pier Run

Ambassador for Mobility: Bob Longman

Location: Newport Beach, CA

Background: Bob first discovered Free Wheelchair Mission from a fellow bible study member (and now current FWM board member) Jim Franklin. Jim told Bob about the story behind the wheelchair, and the vision of Free Wheelchair Mission to provide 20 million wheelchairs to people around the world. Moved by the mission, Bob quickly got involved directly with FWM and going on a mission trip to Chile. He has since visited Tanzania and Peru, and has also returned to Chile for a second visit. He has shared his passion for the organization with his family by encouraging his children and grandchildren to get involved as well.

The Story: The 20^th Annual Pier to Pier run was held on October 8^th, 2011 in Newport Beach. This event was started years ago when Bob and his sons decided to run the 5 miles along the beach between the Huntington Beach Pier and the Newport Beach Pier. Since then, the run became an annual event for Bob and his family, with the number of participants growing annually. Now, the event includes a chartered bus to transport all the participants and their bikes from Bob’s home to the starting area (and then from the finish area back to Bob’s house), a catered post-run meal, and specially designed event t-shirts! The event logistic responsibilities are shared by the Longman clan, rotated between Bob’s children each year. The event had more than 50 people who ran, biked, jogged or walked the 5 miles before joining Bob back at his home for a post-race meal. To commemorate the 20^th Annual event, the family decided to make their miles matter by donating all proceeds to FWM!

Lives Transformed by Bob’s 20^th Annual Pier to Pier Event: 23