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Crutches for Africa Don Drew has been collecting mobility devices such as crutches, canes, wheel chairs and even skate boards for those who suffer from Polio for over 3 decades. As a member of the Sebago Lake Rotary club (Windham Rotary Club at that time) he was introduced to another local Rotarian who was a Polio survivor, Anne Lee Hussey. She saw a need for mobility devices in the remote areas of the world. Many in the US have lightly used and no longer used devices and they end up in either garage sales or landfills. But Rotarians found a way to collect them and distribute to third world countries. After his term as President of the Rotary Club in 1987, Don found himself looking for a way to continue to serve the community through Rotary as an individual, when he attended a gathering and was seated next to Dennis Robitaille of the Saco Bay Club who was very active in the Crutches for Africa project. Don had found his new passion! From that day on Don has collected over 5,000 devices over the years. 4 years ago the Gorham Goodwill contacted Don to offer devices they had collected and were no longer donating to Veterans and Don continues to collect from them. Now Don collects all through the year from loan closets and collection locations and brings them to their warehouse in Saco where the items are sorted and wrapped for distribution. More than 7 or 8 trailer truck loads have been filled and delivered overseas through the years with 2 loads last year alone. |