By JESSE GRAHAM
Swathes of primary school students wheeled out to Dixons Creek last week for a fund-raiser helping to donate wheelchairs to kids overseas.
Around 170 children from Dixons Creek, Toolangi, Chum Creek and Christmas Hills primary schools took part in the fund-raising event, which saw students push one another around an area of the Dixons Creek Reserve.
Many students were sponsored according to the number of laps they completed, and different class groups took turns in half-hour jaunts in the wheelchairs.
The money raised from the event will be donated to Wheelchairs for Kids, which assembles wheelchairs and ships them to developing countries.
There was the occasional spill on the day, as a wayward wheelchair knocked over a traffic cone, and the odd instance of overtaking – and tailgating – but the mood was happy as the chairs made their rounds.
Wheelchairs for Kids member Russell Hayes said a new wheelchair will last a child from the age of four through to their 16th birthday, and that each cost around $150 to make.
He said the fund-raising events gave the school children a lesson in compassion, and gave children overseas a much-needed helping hand.
“There are a lot of worthy causes right here in Australia, but this can change a life altogether and get a kid to school,” Mr Hayes said.
The event was organised by Healesville and Wandin Rotary groups, who also cooked lunch for the students on the day.
The final amount of money has yet been finalised, but Mr Hayes said some children had raised enough for a wheelchair – with money towards others – on their own.
After taking part in the wheelchair laps, students took part in a footy clinic with AFL representatives and took a well-earned break with a sausage in hand, cooked by Rotary members.
Australian Paralympian Bruno Moretti also appeared at the event, to talk to the students about his sporting career.
For more information on Wheelchairs for Kids, or to donate, visit www.wheelchairsforkids.org.
