MANY THANKS to Mary Mcnamara, Trailguides in Dobbs Ferry, Dobbs Ferry High School, and the Westchester Community College Jamaican Club for collecting so many mobility devices for Crutches 4 Kids. Thanks to their hard work approximately 63 pairs of crutches, 22 canes, 11 walkers and 3 wheelchairs will aid those in need in Haiti and the Congo!
Mobility aids collected in the crutch drive
Credit: NYRRRing in the New Year with a commitment to running the NYC Half Marathon on March 18th on behalf of Crutches 4 Kids! A great way to have fun, get in shape and bing mobility to children in need.
The NYC Half 2012 features an expanded field of 15,000 runners who will enjoy an iconic NYC experience as they race through Central Park, the streets of Midtown Manhattan including Times Square, and along the West Side Highway to a spectacular new finish and post-race festival at South Street Seaport.
Minimum fundraising level for guaranteed entry is $1,200. To learn more contact us at info@crutches4kids.org.
Crutches 4 Kids congratulates Ruby, age 13, on her successful crutch drive in Gardiner, NY. We are very grateful for her efforts and hard work - she collected close to 200 crutches! Because of her, dozens of children and young adults in Sierra Leone have been given the gift of mobility.
We asked Ruby to blog about her experience to share with others:
Hi, my name is Ruby. This summer as a project I put together a crutch drive with the help of Crutches 4 Kids. It required a lot of work, but in the end was well worth it. I had to go to the local businesses and ask if I could put a box to collect crutches in the store, then I put up flyers around town to let people know about the drive. Later, we got a bunch of boxes and decorated them with posters and designs, after that we brought the boxes to the participating businesses. We collected close to 200 crutches and wouldn’t have done it without everyone’s help. And even after the drive had finished, we still received more crutches!
This group of crutches is heading to children and adults in Sierra Leone, which has around 20% of the world’s amputees and an extreme amount of Polio victims. The crutches collected will help them interact with the community and engage in activity that they could not do without mobility.
Help us collect crutches for children and adolescents in Sierra Leone!
In partnership with AFYA and Operation Rise, all crutches collected through the end of September will give others the opportunity to stand and walk again.
Crutches 4 Kids was honored last week at Yankees stadium by CC Sabathia and Starter for it’s extraordinary efforts providing crutches to impoverished and disabled children around the world. Co-Founders Dr. Ken Shubin Stein, Dr. Beth Shubin Stein and Dr. Chris Ahmad accepted a check in an on field ceremony from Neil Cole, President and CEO of Iconix Brand Group, owner of the Starter brand.
2011: Crutches 4 Kids honored at Yankee Stadium. Left to right: Neil Cole, Dr. Beth Shubin Stein, Dr. Chris Ahmad, CC Sabathia, Dr. Ken Shubin Stein.
There is still a significant need for crutches in Haiti! A family of orthopedic surgeons - Dr. Aldo Vitale from Lutheran Medical Center and Dr. Mark Vitale and Michael Vitale from Columbia University Medical Center - recently returned from a volunteer trip serving patients at Adventist Hospital in Haiti where they performed approximately 60 surgeries! Their experiences underscore the importance of having appropriate mobility devices such as crutches and wheelchairs in the early critical stages of healing.
The photos and stories shared below by Dr. Mark Vitale will give you a taste of the important role that crutches can play in these adolescents' lives and how your donations will make a difference! He also highlights that there is still a critical need for children's forearm crutches and adult wheelchairs (such as roughriders)!
2011 Mara in Haiti. Credit: Love A Child
Mara was badly injured in January 2010, when a severe earthquake suddenly struck and devastated Haiti. Tragically, it killed Mara's Mother and sister, and as the hospitals in Haiti were completely overwhelmed with victims, she was taken by her Aunt to the Dominican Republic (DR) hoping to receive emergency treatment there. Unfortunately, due to the huge number of victims, even the main hospitals in the DR could focus only on triage rather than primary care. Mara was one of the lucky ones, she was relocated to a field hospital set up on the premises of Love a Child orphanage. After five complicated surgeries, including a leg amputation, Mara is finally on the road to recovery from her physical and emotional trauma, thanks in part to the crutches donated by Crutches 4 Kids. Mara is now able to join the other children on the playground near the hospital. Mara, along with other kids who are recovering from injuries, are able to lean their crutches on the playground equipment and play with the rest of the children on the swings and slides. Having crutches enables Mara to become social again and to spend time with friends, like Valedene, another young amputee who also benefited from crutches from Crutches 4 Kids.
