The Tee It Up for the Troops events at SeaCliff Country Club (Huntington Beach, CA), Vista Valley Country Club (Vista, CA) and Alta Vista Country Club (Placentia, CA) have joined forces to support the Warrior Foundation~Freedom Station located in San Diego, CA. The Warrior Foundation~Freedom Station assists four main groups of warriors: the seriously injured just returning home from war; those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury; those undergoing physical or occupational therapy, and warriors who have been medically retired and remain in our community. To serve this last group in particular, they pioneered a new approach and opened Freedom Station – a unique recovery transition center and housing facility that provides injured warriors with the acclimation time, guidance and resources to successfully make the transition from military service to civilian life.
In particular, the donation of $30,000 from the Vista Valley Country Club event was used to support Freedom Station and the Wheelchairs for Warriors program. As mentioned above, Freedom Station is a unique recovery transition center and housing facility that provides injured warriors with the acclimation time, guidance and resources to successfully make the transition from military service to civilian life.
The Wheelchairs for Warriors program is specifically designed to provide amputees with very lightweight, high quality wheelchairs that are custom-tailored for their specific body measurements. Amputees encounter significant challenges in daily living that most people cannot comprehend. Wheelchairs are the greatest mobility tool that amputees have, whether they are used at home, at work or for therapeutic or recreational activities. The standard-issue wheelchairs provided by the government are bulky, heavy and not easy to maneuver. The ultra light wheelchairs we purchase are custom-made specifically to provide the best fit, form and functionality for each individual warrior. Once a warrior is measured, the wheelchair is built to custom specifications. The “one size fits all” approach does not work for wheelchairs, and that’s why the ultra light wheelchairs are made to measure.
There is also the matter of transporting the wheelchair from place to place, in and out of vehicles. It is not an ideal or particularly safe situation to have amputees struggling to load and unload heavy wheelchairs. These ultra light wheelchairs are exponentially more lightweight, compact, easy to transport when compared to the government-issued wheelchairs. Combined with better handling and significantly more maneuverability, it is easy to see why ultra light wheelchairs significantly improve quality of life for our warriors.