Bicycles, Wheelchairs and Dad

 

Eight years ago, this summer, the year I turned sixty, I decided to mark the occasion by going on an extended bike ride.  Through my Rotary Club I had learned about the Wheelchair Foundation, and its amazing work providing wheelchairs for individuals around the world in need of such a basic tool.  Through Rotary, wheelchairs could be purchased for one hundred dollars apiece.  So, I decided to take a three-day ride, of roughly sixty miles each day, and raise money for wheelchairs.  So was born Wheels for Wheels.  That first effort raised $22,000.  Enough to buy 220 wheelchairs.  And it was my pleasure to help distribute them in Trinidad later that year.

At the onset I determined to dedicate the ride to the memory of my dad, Howard S. Danner Jr.  As some of you who read this blog know, Dad was confined to a wheelchair for seventeen years after being struck by a drunk driver.  Without that wheelchair his life would have been much poorer!

Five years later, as I approached sixty-five, I decided it was time to mount my bike once again, and this time ride for one sixty-five-mile day.  I also decided to invite the Rotary Club to join me in the effort—and many folks did!  Together we raised another $25,000.   As we planned for the ride, my two co-planners asked if we could name the ride for Dad.  I was delighted, and so it became the Howard S. Danner Jr. Wheels for Wheels Cycling Challenge.

Last year, despite the pandemic, we were able to hold the ride again.  And again, raised some $25,000.  Which brings us to this year, when we will be holding the ride on October 30, and I plan on matching my age and riding sixty-eight miles on that day

If you would like to contribute to the effort feel free to make a check payable to the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Trust Fund, and mark Wheels in the memo.  Send it to my attention at Sanibel Congregational UCC, 2050 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, FL 33957.

Thank you!