Push International - Making new byways & inroads – Jeff Lair

2008 has been an exciting year for Push International in many new ways... 
New multi-year “comodato” -
We have been making inroads into new agreements with our hosts and collaborators at Padres y Compadres in Mazatlan.  There is no doubt that we will be serving the people of Mazatlan and surrounding cities throughout the state of Sinaloa for many years to come with the signing of a new multi-year collaborative agreement called a comodato which we have already begun operating under.

New Push workers growing our sustainability
Sustainability - in our own approach and philosophy - means local Push people supporting their own local disabled communities.
Last year we had one person as our sole point of contact on the ground in Mazatlan.  Now we have three active Push collaborators and are in negotiations with a fourth as we grow outward toward the capital city of Sinaloa: Culiacan.

New Push HUB construction -
We are nearing 80% complete on the construction of our new wheelchair distribution HUB which also houses the sustainable wheelchair maintenance and repair workshop staffed by an expert local seating specialist year-round.
Expanded housing on campus –
New construction on the campus we share includes additional housing and more therapy facilities for people with disabilities and their families who come to the campus from many miles away to receive therapy, support and equipment.

Improved relationships & more collaboration with the Mexican government and local organizations –
We have continued working closely with local governmental authorities and we are launching a pilot program within days of this writing to co-distribute wheelchairs and mobility equipment in direct and immediate collaboration with the government agency called DIF near our HUB in Mazatlan.
We have also strengthened our connections with local powerhouse organizations and disability rights supporters like Grupo Pargos, Caritas, the Rotary Clubs of Mazatlan and premier resort property companies to work in conjunction, in support and as a complement to the services we bring to the local disabled community.

First wheelchair distribution by boat –
Several volunteers from Team 9 this summer packed three small boats with wheelchairs and other mobility aids and waved bon voyage to them as local fishermen ferried the valuable equipment to Stone Island for the Push wheelchair distribution the following day.  The Stone Island fishermen’s organization sponsored the event.

Lots of local interviews, reporting and press coverage –
Each volunteer team was covered broadly by several local newspapers this summer.  El Debate, Noreste and other regional periodicals covered the Push mobility equipment distributions this summer.  Team Leaders, local representatives and federal government officials were interviewed along with in lengthy articles publicizing the growth and expansion of Push services in several cities surrounding our HUB.  Local folklore dance teams, pop culture artists and comedians entertained the eager crowd while hard-working wheelchair seating teams worked distributing walkers, adapting and specializing wheelchairs and educating distribution recipients about the importance of regular pressure relief basic skin inspections and general health care for people who were just beginning to use their first wheelchair. Safety and maintenance tips are always reviewed and a hand-out issued to the recipient of each wheelchair Push donates.

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Adding a new Director – Bree Lair

Push International is proud to welcome Viola DeBoo to the Board of Directors. Viola brings a wonderful new perspective to the group. She is bi-lingual and bi-cultural and is therefore able to give a wonderful point of view as to how we shape our interactions and relationships with the people we work with in Mexico. She has a long history working with Push International attending two summer wheelchair distributions with her family, attending many fundraising events and speaking to community organizations about Push International. We are very excited to have her join our team.

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Tragedy to Triumph, A father’s love – Russ Miller

Well another summer has come and gone. Three great teams went to Mazatlan and I am sure they returned home with stories that will last them a lifetime. I would like to share one of those stories with you; a story which may very well continue for years to come. It begins with a phone call this January from a man named Willy. Willy lives with his wife and disabled child in Culiacan, a city 120 miles north of Mazatlan. He called to talk with Sylvia, a senator’s wife in Mazatlan, asking her if she could help them get a wheelchair for his son. Sylvia is very involved with Push and tells Willy yes, she indeed can take care of their son’s needs. This year continues and summer grows near. The team schedules are established and wheelchairs are shipped. It’s time for Sylvia to call Willy back with the goods news. The wheelchairs have arrived, teams are coming, and when does he want to bring his son to receive a wheelchair? It is at this point that the story changes from one of good news to one of great love.
In the time that has passed since Willy and Sylvia last talked, Willy’s son has died. You might think, “Oh the end of the story,” but this is where a father’s love truly reaches out. After telling Sylvia of his son’s death Willy has found two families with disabled children that are in desperate need of help. Willy asks that since his son is no longer in need, could their families be helped. He explains that the families are very poor and the four hour trip to Mazatlan would be very difficult but that he and his wife would like to bring the families down to be seen. Finally the day arrives, Willy and his wife and the two families drive to Mazatlan. They meet with Sylvia and are brought to the team.

The first family is a very young couple with a young son. Both parents are extremely involved with their son. As we evaluate their son, the parents explain that they are concerned that a wheelchair might be difficult for their son to move because they don’t have a floor in their home, just dirt. The evaluation continues and we determine that this little boy would be best served with some therapy and a walker. We know that in the warehouse we still had some therapy equipment but most of the walkers are gone and to find such a small walker would be tough. Today, of course, was just one of those special days! We were able to find the perfect therapy ball just right to help build strength and balance AND hanging all by itself in the corner of the warehouse was one small walker. It didn’t take but a few minutes and this little boy grabbed on to that walker and away he went. I don’t know for sure, but I think his smile was much larger than the walker.

Next was a young mother with a severely disabled little girl. This mother had no way to move her daughter other than carrying her. We brought out a brand new pediatric wheelchair and, you guessed it, it was a perfect fit. Now let’s not forget Willy! He has been watching all of this, taking in all that has been going on around him. Now through his imperfections, smiles, and tears, this is what he had to say. “My son’s death was very sad, but I now know why I was to bring these families. What better way to honor my son’s memory than to serve these others. It makes me very happy and now I can continue to serve the people in my city.” Well folks as you can imagine, there wasn’t a dry eye in those of us listening to Willy speak. To have the privilege to witness such great love is always such an honor. These are the type of moments you have when you take the step to give to others. When you can get away from your busy life at home and serve those who are much less fortunate, I can guarantee you that you will have your own story to remember for a lifetime.

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Team 7 update – Bree Lair

In May, The Push Board of Directors was proud to co-sponsor our first team of OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY STUDENTS and recent graduates from the nationally renowned University of Puget Sound Occupational Therapy program.

A team of 12 Occupational Therapy students from the University of Puget Sound came to the Mazatlan Hub one week after their classes left out for the summer. The team was hard working, energetic, knowledgeable and ready to learn more. The students were able to participate in many equestrian therapy sessions at the Hub. The on-site therapists worked with the students and taught them theories, techniques and exercises to use with the children they were working with. The students were able to get onto the horses and guide the children through their exercises with the guidance of the on-site therapists. Some of the students had never been on a horse before but ready to learn, they jumped on up and started helping with the therapy.

The students also individually seated 30 people in wheelchairs during their week in Mazatlan. They also conducted home visits where the team brought equipment and therapeutic interventions to people who were unable to leave their homes. An amazing story from their week was when the team visited Oscar's house. Oscar was a 50 year old man who was disabled due to discinigrating vertebrae in his spine. His 80 year old mother was taking care of him and he had not left his bed in over a year. When the team arrived at his home he was overjoyed to see them. The team worked with Oscar for a few hours, got him sitting up in bed, helped him move himself in bed, and transferred him into his new wheelchair. Then the team took Oscar out onto the sidewalk in front of his home where he and his mother burst into tears. Oscar had not felt sunlight on his skin in over a year and he was ecstatic to be outside again. Later that week the team returned to Oscar's home and continued to teach him more therapy exercises to help him get stronger, how to transfer himself from his bed to his wheelchair, how to shower safely and addressed other concerns. We are happy to report that Oscar is doing well and is getting stronger every day.

Team 7 also observed, learned and participated in therapies inside the children's rehabilitation center with the on-site therapists, learned about different therapy techniques and shared ideas and techniques that they had learned in school. Team 7 made a great impact on the people at the Hub and all those that they worked with throughout the week.

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Team 8 Update – Jeff Musgrave

Resurrection Lutheran Rock’s -  Team 8 was a group from Resurrection Lutheran church in Spring Texas, near Houston.  We had a great mix of young teens to the wise in age, an incredible group of individuals who did well in all aspects of the trip. They were dedicated, hard workers and gave 110% in everything.  We did two days of wheelchair distribution where we sat a total of 27 recipients in wheelchairs. I truly felt that we were able to give the best possible wheelchair to every person that came in.  It was a very satisfying feeling to know that we did it right, a success!

In addition to the wheelchair distributions, we worked at two early morning feeding centers for children on their way to school. The team did a few well received evangelistic drama skits and served many children a loving breakfast. 
We also were able to bring 49 bags of beans and rice into a land fill community, going door to door passing out the meals.  It was an opportunity to truly bless the people in this community. They have little hope living in the dump and our presence was warmly received.

The hardest part of the week was digging a foundation for a new church being built in a very poor community in the center of Mazatlan.  This church was going to be a real light of hope for a very hurting group of people.  Pastor Miguel has a real heart for helping the people gain hope for the future. Without hope they have nothing to live for. This church building will be a community center that will be able to spread hope to every home in the community.  

In 2003 this same church was in Mazatlan with Push and helped build a church in another poor community on the outskirts of Mazatlan.  We revisited this church and Pastor Daniel held a special Wednesday evening service for his congregation to meet the people that helped get him started.  It was a wonderful, emotional, event.  We heard many stories of hope and new life in the community that had came through Pastor Daniel and his new church. This experience reminded me that our work today does not end tomorrow, but continues to grow and expand.  With every wheelchair we change a life, that will then change a community, and that changed communities will change countries, and changed countries will change the world. 

I thank you all for your prayers and support to make trips like this possible.  If you want to come with us anytime, please contact us and we will customize a trip just for you, your church, community group, family, or friends.

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Team 9 Update – Bree Lair

Team 9 came to the Mazatlan Hub from Redmond, WA in late July.  The team was made up of three families and family friends and was joined by one of our nationally known therapists and prosthetics specialists.  They were able to use the newly completed Steve Oliver Memorial dormitories and work at the distributions as family units.  This team offered many gifts to the community that week including distributing over 50 wheelchairs, painting logos on the walls at Padres y Compadres, painting murals in the occupational therapy room, and doing the first wheelchair distribution by boat.

Team 9 was at a great advantage because they were the last team of the summer and they were able to distribute more chairs than the other teams of the season.  They were able to do this in anticipation of our upcoming move into the new wheelchair repair and maintenance shop on  campus.  The team was able to seat many people in need and reduce the inventory of equipment in the warehouse to make the move in late September easier for Sergio, our wheelchair repair and maintenance foreman.

Team 9 was able to do two distributions on our campus and a distribution on Stone Island. The team also met Willy, the man written about in Tragedy to Triumph.

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Summer 2008 Team Member Request – Bree Lair

To all of our hard working summer 2008 volunteers, thank you for your dedication, heart, service and love this summer. The people that you oserved were truly changed by your work and we know that you too were changed by your experiences. In an effort to keep our supporters and volunteers from different teams connected we’d like to make a request of you. Please tak a minute to write a sentence or two to a page about an impactful experience that you had this summer and send it to Bree at bree.lair@pushinternational.org. If you have a photo of that moment please include that too. We will use your stories to update our website, marketing materials, 2009 calendar, and to keep donors nad volunteers connected. Please also send in your team evaluation if you haven’t done so already, we truly appreciate your feedback. Thank you again!

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Colorado Fundraiser – Jeff Musgrave

Last month we had a great event!  Tweeds Furniture Store of Woodland Park, CO decided to donate a percentage of total sales that weekend to Push.  They wanted to sponsor as many wheelchairs as possible with their event.  There were pictures of people we have helped displayed on several TV screens throughout the store. They also provided live music, drinks & snacks, and I was able to answer questions and share Push’s vision with the customers. Tweeds was able to sponsor 3 children’s wheelchairs and 1 adult wheelchair, a value of $1,050.  Thank you Tweed’s!!!!  They were very excited with the results and are planning another event in early November, opening up the Christmas line.  So if you are in need of lodge décor, furniture and/or Christmas stuff, please get it from Tweed’s, preferably in early November, ha! ha! ha! You can visit Tweeds store online at www.drummertweeds.com  Drop them an email letting them know of your support and interest in us.

If you have a store or know of a business that would be interested in helping out this way I would love to meet with them.  Please let us know and we will help you through the process.

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Collections Update  – Jeff Musgrave, Director of Wheelchair Collections

The collections department is moving forward at a back breaking pace.  Literally!  I say that only because I sprained my back last week loading a truck full of wheelchairs. That aside, in the first half of 2008 we collected 409 wheelchairs plus many more canes, crutches, and walkers. 
Since the fall of 2006 Push International has collected 1,144 wheelchairs plus other mobility aids for people with disabilities around the world. 

o    We shipped 178 wheelchairs to Africa.
o    We shipped 210 wheelchairs to Mexico
o    We have shared 756 collected wheelchairs with other organizations
who have similar goals and/or vision as Push.

It is the joint effort which is most efficient to do the most good. We still have other wheelchairs & aids stored around the country waiting to be shipped by volunteer drivers, we just don’t know who they are yet. So, if you are going to be making a trip to Houston, Texas and may have an empty truck and trailer returning back through Colorado, we would love to talk with you. 

We presently have Collections sites in Tucson AZ, Seattle WA, Colorado Springs CO, Kansas City MO, Hutchinson KS, and Houston TX.  If you would like to start a collection site in your community please contact me and I will help you get started. We would love to have you on board.

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Tucson Update – Brian McCracken

Hi all! Things in Tucson are moving forward. We are in the process of forming Team Push-Tucson. The team we construct will have leaders that will then, in turn, develop their own team of volunteers. The following areas are what they will be participating in include:

Fundraising
As you know it is crucial for a non-profit to raise funds for operating expenses, and with Push, we also need to raise funds for the volunteers to travel abroad. This group will develop and implement fundraising strategies that best suit the Tucson area.

Marketing/Publicity
We need to develop a marketing campaign to target several areas: volunteer organizations (recruiting volunteers), speaking to service organizations like Elks’ Club, Knights of Columbus, etc., to aid in certain areas of fundraising.

Volunteer Recruitment/Training
We need several different types of volunteers. Individuals are needed to help with tasks here in Tucson, such as wheelchair collection, fundraising, marketing and publicity. We will also need volunteers to offer their time by traveling to Mexico. These volunteers will have to attend an orientation, where some of the topics covered will include wheelchair  seating by a Physical Therapist and basic wheelchair modifications.

Wheelchair/Equipment Collection
All of the equipment we distribute in Mexico comes from what we collect here in the States. Being close to Mexico, Tucson needs to have a collection center. For that to happen, we need to find a warehouse for temporary storage and volunteers to get the word out that we are able to pick up the equipment and ensure it gets donated. This may include contacting hospitals, rehabs, nursing homes, etc.

We need your help! If you or anyone you know would be interested in assisting us in any of the above areas (no experience necessary, just open minds), please contact:

Brian McCracken
(520) 271-7322
brian@pushinternational.org

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Washington Fall Fundraiser – Bree Lair

The third annual Fall fundraiser is taking place in Woodinville, WA mid November2008.  This year’s event will be a Fun Filled Fiesta not to be missed, but we need your help! We need help procuring silent auction items, addressing and sending out invitations, setting up the event , and taking it down. If you are willing to help or you have auction items to donate, please contact Bree at bree.lair@pushinternational.org.  Thank you!

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New Website – Bree Lair

Push International has a new look online! Check out our new website

www.pushinternational.org

There you will find new and more detailed information about how you can get involved, what we are up to, summer team updates, volunteer’s stories, biographies about our staff and board of directors and how you and your friends can help! Be sure to check the website often so that we can keep you up to date about our upcoming events.

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