United Cerebral Palsy Wheels for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that has provided more than 350,000 free wheelchairs to people in 72 developing countries.
Families and corporations donate used wheelchairs and Wheels for Humanity volunteers refurbish them at a warehouse in North Hollywood.
Rocio Villalobos is one of those who received help. She was shot during a crime in El Salvador at age 8 and was left paralyzed from the waist down.
"Countries like El Salvador, it's really hard to get a wheelchair," Villalobos said.
For seven long years Rocio got around in an adult-sized wheelchair that her brother found for her. The chair was too big for her small frame and caused her to develop scoliosis and painful spasms.
"Having a big chair, I always had to sit in the wrong position," she said.
When she was 15 Wheels for Humanity delivered a customized chair measured to fit her body. Several years later she moved north to Pacoima and now volunteers for Wheels for Humanity.
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"I know what it's like to not have accessibility. I really want to do something about it," Villalobos said.
The program's CEO Ronald Cohen says they also recently opened a plant in Indonesia where they hire local disabled workers to manufacture brand new wheelchairs.
"It gives them a life. They feel like they're producing something, contributing something," Cohen said.
UCP Wheels for Humanity is holding its annual fundraiser Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Skirball Cultural Center from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Last year's event raised over $225,000, or the equivalent of 900 wheelchairs for adults and children in need.
Tickets are $150; opportunity drawing tickets are $50; both are available for purchase here.
