Brothers,
We had a very successful unloading and moving to storage of 280 wheelchairs from the American Wheelchair Mission today. 44 Brother Knights participated in my request for help. That represents 13 Councils and 4 Archdiocese. This was one of the largest displays of Unity that I have been a part of in many years. Brothers, please remember that these 280 wheelchairs will affect the lives of 2,800 recipients and their families. You will find attached some of the pictures that were taken today. If anyone else took pictures, please email them to me.here were so
many brothers that helped that it is hard to recognize specific brothers who stepped up. Everyone of you knows who you are and I offer my deepest gratitude to each of you. But I would like to thank Rudy Ortiz of the Archdiocese of Corpus Christi for arranging a team to pick up 60 wheelchairs Also, Jerry Garza of the Archdiocese of Brownsville for his team and their 40 wheelchairs and Jerry Martin of the Archdiocese of Victoria and their 20 wheelchairs. Additionally and locally, I want to thank GK Juan Soto and his group for St. Vincent de Paul Council and their 16 wheelchairs. But a very special thanks goes out to Steve Astorino and the brothers from New Braunfels Council 4183, not only for taking 20 wheelchairs but for his team's willingness to assist with the unloading, sorting and moving of 110 wheelchairs to our storage facility. They and Brother Leo Forget drug trailer loads to the storage facility and made sure they were organized in an orderly fashion.
I want to thank Ysau Flores and Tom Krueger, officers for our local chapter who were there to help. Ysau, thanks for getting our pictures posted to the chapter Facebook page and Tom for all your assistance in getting the word out to the local councils this past two week. Your dedication to the wheelchair mission makes all of our success possible.
Lastly, I have to thank my dear friend and Brother Knight Luis Luis for putting up with me and my pursuits the past 20 years. You have never told me NO. You kept us on track today which made for a successful event. By your efforts and those of our Brother Knights we were able to unload the trailer of 280 wheelchairs in 20 minutes, have everything loaded out and on the way and all our units to storage in about 2 hours.
Brothers, please go back to your councils and impress on your membership and officers the necessity for this program. It is not that hard to raise funds for the program. Remember, I am here to help in any way possible. You can reach me by email at abn091951@gmail.com or on my cell @210-275-7921.
Thanks again Brothers
Vivat Jesus
A Brian Nelson
Texas Assistant
Wheelchair Chairman