Donate Crutches 4 Africa Oct. 10 and 17 at Boulder Rotary Club

BOULDER – The idea came to David Talbot in 2005 when he and his wife, Candice, both professional photographers, were in northeast Uganda filming for a nonprofit organization.

Talbot, who was stricken with polio at age 2½, and who now uses crutches himself, saw a woman whose right leg was so twisted from the disease that her foot pressed against the back of her right shoulder. She was using a green tree branch as a prop so she could hop and jump forward.

“For me, it was a jaw-dropper,” Talbot says now. He knew that many of his friends and acquaintances – he estimates one out of four or five – probably had old crutches, canes, walkers and wheelchairs sitting unused in their attics or basements, left from injuries or from elderly relatives. He knew, too, that many of these items end up dumped in landfills. While shooting a photo assignment he met an engineer at the huge landfill near Denver International Airport who told him they had recently buried the contents of two huge rolloff containers, one filled with 1,000 to 1,200 pairs of crutches and another with 400 to 600 wheelchairs.

Talbot has found statistics through British media that indicate 60 million people in Africa need mobility devices because of illness or handicaps. Even half of that, he said, makes 30 million people.

“For me, the most basic of human rights is mobility,” he said.

The Boulder Rotary Club is holding two collection days this month for its members to drop off crutches, canes, walkers or wheelchairs they no longer need. Rotary will accept donations from the public.

Polio Plus, its effort to eradicate polio in the world, is one of Rotary International’s biggest philanthropies. Two billion children have been immunized so far, and polio exists today in only four countries: India, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The campaign began in 1988, when polio cases existed in 125 countries.

Of course, Talbot’s organization, Crutches 4 Africa, needs to find ways to get the medical equipment to the people who need it. He estimates it costs $3 to send a pair of crutches to Africa and urges anyone he meets to save a penny a day for a year and contribute it to the effort. In the long term, he hopes to raise $3 million but is “looking for a millionaire to loan us $1 million” that will be paid back in several years from contributions.

Rotary clubs in the United States help to collect and ship the items, while clubs in Africa help distribute them.

So far, Talbot, 55, a member of the Mountain Foothills Rotary Club in Evergreen, estimates he has sent 3,000 pairs of crutches, sometimes putting them into extra space in containers businesses are sending to Africa. A tour operator in New York is using leftover cargo space on his jets to carry more crutches.

Crutches 4 Africa is collecting mobility devices in nine states. Talbot urges individuals with these devices collecting dust to drop them off at designated drop sites or contact him through his web site, www.crutches4Africa.org, to donate them. Other possible sources include storage units, nursing homes or physical therapy practices. Businesses that want to help can obtain collection bins from Talbot.

How you can help:
 Drop off crutches, canes, wheelchairs or walkers at The Spice of Life Event Center, 5706 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder Rotary Club’s meeting location, on Friday, Oct. 10, or Friday, Oct. 17, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. If you have items to donate and are unable to bring them during those hours, call Norris Hermsmeyer of the Rotary Club at 303-442-6611
 Check www.crutches4africa.org for information on how to donate money or mobility devices.
 Call David Talbot at 303-877-2803 for more details.

For more information on Rotary, see www.boulderrotary.org or www.rotary.org.

NEWS FROM BOULDER ROTARY CLUB

Contact: Sue Deans, 303-579-9580