Two stories of good neighbors using their funds to help others….
Connecticut Businessman Gives Motorized Wheelchairs to 580 People –Some Who Haven’t Been Outside in Years
Michael Goonan, Good News Network, July 17, 2019.
httpss://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/gift-of-mobility-pawn-shop-in-connecticut/
Mobility is truly one of the wonders of life that so many of us take it for granted. This is a story about how an astonishing 580 people got their freedom back, thanks to a Connecticut businessman’s passion and determination.
It all started in Philip Pavone’s pawn shop in 2009, when he stumbled upon an opportunity to make a difference. There were some motorized wheelchairs hanging around the shop that still hadn’t sold and, in an attempt to clear space for new inventory, he placed an ad in his local paper, offering them for free.
Within two weeks, he received more than sixty letters in response to the ad.
It was then that Mr. Pavone began to realize the scale of the problem. Many of those who wrote confided that their insurance would not cover the cost of a motorized wheelchair—$4,000-$40,000—and they could not afford the cost.
“At that moment, I realized how many people out there were suffering. It was unbelievable,” said Mr. Pavone. “Some of the people writing to me hadn’t left their homes for months, even years at a time. Many were elderly and had no one to help them.”
As a Vietnam veteran and cancer survivor who deeply empathized with the letters he received, Pavone decided to take action. First, he bought, repaired, and gave away four more used wheelchairs. It was during this process that he realized how many of them were sitting in basements and garages, unused or broken—and he began asking people to donate them, so he could repair them and give them away. AZ Pawn’s Gift of Mobility was born.
RELATED: Student Has Collected Hundreds of Wheelchairs and Crutches for the Needy
His process of pairing recipients with their chairs and scooters culminates each year with a major event during the holiday season, when 100 chairs and scooters are given away in a single day. Those who have benefited include an elderly Holocaust survivor, a World War II veteran, a woman in her 20s with a rare degenerative disease, and a number of patients at local nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.
“Once we give these chairs to people and see how grateful they are —the tears and the hugging and kissing—I know we’re making a difference,” says Pavone. “These chairs offer a way for people to live an independent life.”
He accepts donations from March 1 to October 31; chairs and scooters can be dropped off at his AZ Pawn shop in Norwich, Connecticut—or volunteers can also pick up unwanted chairs within a 40-mile radius of the shop.
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This holiday season, Mr. Pavone aims to give at least 100 more chairs and scooters to those in need—without collecting a dime. He recently was honored as a GoFundMe Hero for his efforts so far, which will help promote his goal of raising $50,000 for the collecting and repairing of even more unwanted chairs.
If you would like to contribute, you can visit his GoFundMe campaign here.
Applications for the holiday giveaway will be accepted starting September 1, 2019, for anyone who can pick them up in the Norwich area: Send a letter to AZ Pawn Gift of Mobility, 442 East Main Street, Norwich, CT 06360.
If you want to donate a chair, you can email [email protected].
Local Church Pays Off $7.2 Million of Crippling Medical Debt for 6,500 Families
Jennifer Zolper, Good News Network, July 16, 2019
httpss://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/church-pays-off-7-2-million-of-medical-debt/
It’s uncertain whether the struggling residents of Central Florida have ever prayed for their medical bills to be wiped out, but that’s exactly what just happened. Sixty-five hundred families are going to get letters in the mail saying their debt has been paid by people they’ve never met.
“It’s one thing for us to say, ‘God loves you,” Senior Pastor Dan Glenn told his congregation. “It’s another for us to show it.”
When Stetson Baptist Church found itself with an ‘extra Sunday’ at the end of its fiscal year calendar, its leaders decided that on June 30th, the money collected during the service would be donated to charity. Their plan was to split the proceeds to support a group foster home that provides services for underserved youngsters and also help the residents of their home county of Volusia to pay their medical bills.
It’s uncertain whether the struggling residents of Central Florida have ever prayed for their medical bills to be wiped out, but that’s exactly what just happened. Sixty-five hundred families are going to get letters in the mail saying their debt has been paid by people they’ve never met.
“It’s one thing for us to say, ‘God loves you,” Senior Pastor Dan Glenn told his congregation. “It’s another for us to show it.”
When Stetson Baptist Church found itself with an ‘extra Sunday’ at the end of its fiscal year calendar, its leaders decided that on June 30th, the money collected during the service would be donated to charity. Their plan was to split the proceeds to support a group foster home that provides services for underserved youngsters and also help the residents of their home county of Volusia to pay their medical bills.
The generous donations were able to fund not one, not two, but three foster homes for an entire year—plus wipe out the medical debt of struggling families in four additional Central Florida counties.
They used a New York charity, RIP Medical Debt, which buys the debt for just pennies on the dollar, to leverage the money’s impact—and ended up wiping out $7.2 million of unpaid medical bills.
RELATED: Church Raises $100K Through Month-Long Fast So They Can Pay Off Student Debt for 34 Grads
Church leaders got the idea after hearing about a Kansas church that had done the same thing. Earlier this month, a church in Michigan said it had also purchased medical debts, helping almost 2,000 families and providing over $1.8 million in medical debt relief.
It’s interesting to note that buying the debt of strangers and subsequently paying it off was an idea that sprung out of the political movement of ‘Occupy Wall Street.’ After protests ended and the encampments taken down in New York and cities around the world, some of the participants set up an amazing effort in 2012 to help “the 99%” and called the Rolling Jubilee.
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They raised over $700,000 to abolish more than $35 million in crushing college and medical debt, liberating tens of thousands of people from the burden.
Even more amazing, the two founders of RIP were actual debt collectors, wearing suits and ties, with offices near the protest encampments. They were inspired by the movement and now are freeing strangers from debt in a full-time capacity.
(WATCH Pastor Glenn announce the results to his congregation…)