How to Donate an Electric Wheelchair
- 1). Find your own recipient to donate to. If you want to meet your recipient, this is the approach to take. LifeNets is a nonprofit organization that helps people looking for wheelchairs connect with people who have wheelchairs to give away. The LifeNets website has information about those who are looking for electric wheelchairs; you can contact them directly to tell them what you have. You also can list what you have to offer. Finding someone in the local area will not require shipping, which is expensive. Coordinate pick-up with the recipient on your own. Search by state in order to find a local recipient. To list an item or to see contact information for any users, you will need to register by creating a profile. If you are successful in finding someone to donate to, you can then contact LifeNet and give it the name of the recipient, so it can get you a receipt for your donation.
- 2). Donate to a national organization, such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association. MDA accepts new or used wheelchairs, including electric wheelchairs, in good condition. The wheelchairs are given for free to people with neuromuscular diseases. There are many MDA offices across the country. Find your local MDA office by typing in your ZIP code on the MDA website. Coordinate with the office to drop off the chair. If your wheelchair isn’t in perfect working order, another national organization to which you can donate is Wheels For the World. It has drop-off centers and volunteers in different states to receive your wheelchair. Find one by entering your ZIP code on its website. The wheelchairs then are brought to correctional facilities in one of 13 states where inmates work on them to restore them. Once fixed, working wheelchairs are shipped abroad and given to individuals in need through a ministry-outreach program.
- 3). Donate directly to an organization in your state that accepts electric wheelchairs. Most states have such as organization. Generally state-based organizations accept the wheelchairs at certain drop-off points in the state. The donated wheelchairs may, then, either go to people locally or internationally in need of a wheelchair. If you live in California, you can donate to United Cerebral Palsy Wheels for Humanity. It accepts electric wheelchairs that are in working condition and will pick them up roughly within 10 days of you filling out a equipment-donation form available on its website. The wheelchairs are then distributed to children and adults with disabilities in other countries, such as Vietnam and Costa Rica. UCP Wheels, in conjunction with FedEx Freight West also may accept donations from other states in the Western U.S. It does not accept donations from outside the Western states. If you live in Wisconsin, you can donate to the Wheelchair Recycling Program in Madison or Brookfield. This program sells refurbished and donated wheelchairs to people, locally, whom can't afford to buy new equipment. They may also sell your donated wheelchair and use the funds to purchase other medical equipment people need or to support their organization in other ways. You can drop off the electric wheelchair at one of its offices or pay $10 to have it picked it up. Tax receipts are provided. If you live in Georgia, contact Friends of Disabled Adults & Children, Too. FODAC gives donated equipment to people locally who have a medical necessity or are in need and don't, for example, have medical insurance. A list of drop off sites in Georgia is available on its website.
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