Americans living in the land of plenty might have a hard time understanding the scarcity of equipment as basic as a wheelchair that would enable a disabled person to become mobile in poor nations. But the reality is that many in Third World countries suffer for a lack of devices, which is what drives Lonny Davis and others to see that they get them.

Davis and wife Lisa and a team supported by the Rotary Club just returned from a wheelchair distribution to impoverished families in the Mexican village of San Miguel de Allende. The 13-member team was organized by Hope Haven West, a non-profit group dedicated to providing mobility among the world’s disabled poor. Volunteers assemble new wheelchairs and also collect and refurbish wheelchairs in the United States and then have them shipped to foreign nations where a team unpacks them onsite and fits a chair to disabled children and adults.

Ceres residents Stan and Cheryl Risen joined the Mexico trip which made a difference in the lives of approximately 200. The team flew from San Francisco to Leon, Mexico on July 17 and returned on July 25. Also going from Ceres were Josh Letras and wife Maegan, daughter Paige, 18, and son Evan, 15 as well as residents of Stockton and Phoenix.

The support from the Rotary Clubs in Stanislaus County and in Mexico have been phenomenal, said Stan Risen, a former city councilman and retired Stanislaus County chief executive officer. “It was very humbling and moving to be part of this effort and team,” Risen said. “It’s hard not to get choked up and a little teary eyed at times as you see parents carrying in their kids and later leaving with the gift of mobility for their child.”

Risen has been a volunteer to build wheelchairs at Hope Haven’s warehouse in Ceres and heard about the trips from Davis but hadn’t committed to going on a distribution until now. He decided the experience with Cheryl would be an enriching time as a couple.

“It really touches your heart to be able to come along side these kids and help them,” said Risen. “It was a neat experience.”

About three-quarters of the recipients of their new mobility were children, many crippled for various reasons, including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, scoliosis and encephalitis.

“You could tell they were extremely grateful. Some of these kids never had mobility; they’ve had to be carried everywhere in their life. You could almost see it on the expression on their faces. When everybody would be fitted and ready to leave they would get applause from everybody there. Even the parents, you could just sense a lot of gratitude from the parents.”

Josh Letras, who is the Davis’s son-in-law, said he is glad that he found the time away from his job as a Valley Oak Real Estate agent to go.

“You hear the stories but it’s a whole different level when you experience it,” said Letras. “It was great. It was emotional. It was everything that Lonny and Lisa have put their blood, sweat and tears into. You see why they do it.”

The Letras and Risens worked together to figure out ways to make adjustments to properly fit the children. There are no manuals so the task involved some brainwork, Letras said.

“You don’t just hand them a wheelchair,” said Risen. “It probably takes an hour and a half to two hours per kid to fit the chair up just right for them and that was a learning experience I had to learn. I’ve been building them but I didn’t know how to fit them.”

Letras said one boy who was eight years old and who looked as if he were only a year old was nearly stiff for lack of parental effort to get him physical therapy. Letras and Risen configured the chair in a way that the boy wouldn’t merely lay in it but give it some angle so the boy would have to use stomach muscles to prop himself up. The boy’s muscles were so atrophied that Letras said he could “put my pointer finger and my thumb around his calf and he was eight years old.”

Some of the children appeared to be nearly catatonic and the gift of a chair was a relief to parents, an emotion that showed on their faces, said Letras.

The process was at times difficult to watch because some of the children became emotional and cried once they were removed from the parent’s arms “because they’re so used to being held a lot of the time,” he added.

Risen said he was excited to see members of the Rotary clubs in Mexico step up by providing transportation and meals, translators to the Americans and setting up the distribution location. Volunteers pay for their own airfare and other expenses.

“We’ll definitely do another one, probably in 2024.”

No sooner than the Davis’s returned to Ceres from Mexico – it was their seventh this year and 97th wheelchair distribution over a 20-year spans – they were off again on another distribution in Mongolia. Going with them was granddaughter Paige Letras who has been on six distributions.

In early September the Davises plan to do another trip to Peru. 

Josh and Maegan Letras are thinking about joining a planned trip to the Philippines next year.

The Risens say they also hope to participate in a future event.