The Wheels Keep Turning at Yad Sarah: Wheelchairs for Free Loan Across Israel Program

2007 YEAR END REPORT TO THE SISTER CITY ASSOCIATION, CHATTANOOGA,TENNESSEE
DOWNTOWN ROTARY CLUB, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE
GIVATAYIM ROTARY CLUB

Equipment lending is Yad Sarah’s largest and most widely used service, and wheelchairs the most requested item. Thanks to your support, Yad Sarah was able to provide 38,000 people with a much needed wheelchair at no cost --3,000 more individuals than our projections for 2007.

Of the 38,000 chairs loaned, 9,200 were loaned out of Yad Sarah branches situated in hospitals throughout Israel. The exorbitant cost of medical care and research places enormous strains on the health care system to provide even the most basic services. Medical Centers such as Rambam, Naharyia and Afula Hospitals in the North; Hadassah (Ein Kerem & Har Hatzofim), Sha’are Tzedek, Tel Hashomer, Belinson and Ichilov Hospitals in Central Israel; and Ben Gurion University’s Soroka Hospital in the South, have come to depend upon the Yad Sarah wheelchair loan program to allow them accommodate their patient demand.

Approximately 29,000 people across Israel benefited from the use of a much needed wheelchair, thanks to the enormous efforts of our army of volunteers from our neighborhood and town branches. There is not an area of the country, nor a segment of the population that does not benefit from the use of a Yad Sarah wheelchair. 34% of the wheelchairs loaned by our devoted volunteers were from our branches in the North– some of whom were victims still suffering from injuries sustained during the Second Lebanon War - and from our branches in the South –some of whom were victims of injuries resulting from the constant barrage of Kassam rockets on their communities.

Another vital component of the wheelchair loan program is the work of our equipment maintenance workshops– staffed almost entirely by volunteers, many of whom are pensioners, and some disabled. Thanks to their enormous skills, we have been able to inspect and repair each wheelchair between loans, permitting us to lend each chair to at least 35 different people. In 2007, 70,000 repairs
were made, extending the life of each chair and allowing us to return them to circulationas soon as possible, to assist more people.

Volunteers are the backbone of the wheelchairs free loan program. They provide service at every stage of the loan process; they receive clients at Yad Sarah’s branches, assess which kind of chair is needed, process loans, handle returns, repair and maintain the chairs and make deliveries to
branches requesting more chairs.

Our goal for 2007 was to loan wheelchairs to 35,000 children and adults in urgent need. Thanks to your support, Yad Sarah has been able to Keep the Wheels Turning and to meet the demands of more people than anticipated. We are grateful for our partnership with you, and we are proud of what we have been able to accomplish together.

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