Worlds Collide With Royalty

In November of 2020, right in the teeth of COVID-19, Chair the Love received an email from the Rotary Clubs of Grand Bahamas stating, "The hurricanes last year have turned our Bahamian Islands upside down, and we have a desperate need for wheelchairs."

Chair The Love's single focus is to provide equipment and services to individuals with mobility-related issues worldwide, they were unable to ignore their plea. The people of the Bahamas were in need, and they were ready to jump in and answer the call.

Thanks to their generous donors, combined with others from the Wheelchair Foundation, Chair the Love was able to quickly pull together the $42,000 needed to purchase an entire container of 280 wheelchairs and have them delivered directly from the manufacturer to the Bahamas.

Due to the heavy restrictions and health threats surrounding COVID-19, Chair The Love's usual large-gathering wheelchair distributions were canceled, and instead, replaced with individual home visits. Luckily, the Rotarians were able to visit each wheelchair recipient one by one and gift them with their brand-new chair. 

While the Chair The Love team was not able to make the trip, their Rotarian friends included them every step of the way - supplying them with a continual stream of photos and videos, each one more touching than the last. 

One of these distributions resulted in two chairs being delivered to the Grand Bahama Children's Home in Freeport. This remarkable facility provides shelter and care for 32 children, ranging from infants to teenagers, whose parents are unable to financially support their development or physical needs.  It is there that Chair The Love's donated wheelchair, and the dear young boy sitting in it, met Prince William.

Fortunately, Prince William and Princess Kate were in the Bahamas for a goodwill tour of several Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean and had the privilege of meeting one of the Chair The Love extraordinary recipients. Evidently, Prince William was as taken with this young man and his joy as Chair The Love was.

Even though there may not always be 'royal' coverage surrounding Chair the Love's endeavors, this is just one instance that serves to underscore the impact that each one of the donors has to change the lives of others - mostly outside the purview of a prince and princess.

These are the same faces that are seen on every distribution, and due to many amazing donors, we will give thousands more the same gift of mobility. 

For more information, donations, and how to get involved in our mission, please contact Chair The Love through www.ChairTheLove.org.

Source: Chair The Love