Helping Low-Income Workers By Strapping Them Into Cars
Posted By Thomas Bahde on September 18, 2009
CNN considers this woman a hero. Filed under “Misdirected Do-Goodery”:
Since 2003, Wheels of Success has refurbished 280 donated cars for low-income individuals and families and helped another 280 clients with vehicle-related services. ”Receiving … the car is more than just the car,” said Jacobs. “People literally see how it’s going to change their life” by knocking down an obstacle that had gotten in their way due to lack of transportation.
Here are some real heroes: Wheels4Life.org
“Wheels4Life is a non-profit charity (501c(3)), that provides free bicycles for people in need of transportation in Third World countries. We partner with local individuals, organizations and other groups to help us identify persons who sincerely need a bike to be able to go to school or to work. Often these people live in very primitive and remote areas with no access or means to public transportation. The closest school, doctor or work-place might be 10 or 20 miles away. Having a bike can make all the difference in somebody’s life and can give them a chance to break out of the vicious poverty cycle. The gift of mobility, in form of a bicycles, can do miracles.
We carefully select the persons who receive a bike, with the help of local institutions, organizations and/or individuals. Some of our requirements include that the persons don’t already have alternative means of transportation nor can they afford public transportation (when available). People who just want to get a bicycle because its free, will be eliminated quickly from our selection process.
Often we buy the bicycles in the country were its needed. That helps the local economy and it makes it much easier to find replacement parts. It also saves us much costs in shipping, handling, import taxes, duties, storage, etc…”
This should come as absolutely no surprise to someone like myself…but yet I am actually surprised.
On Friday, I submitted a comment to the story taking care to avoid any inflammatory or troll like language in my comment. My comment touched on how a car-centric lifestyle could continue the cycle of poverty given how expensive automobile costs are, especially the people being helped by this woman. I submitted the link to the Whells4Life.org and said that these people were the real heroes as it promote the American values of self-reliance that made the U.S. the powehouse it is.
The comment was not approved.
I submitted another comment raving about how awesome the lady was and lo and behold! The comment has appeared on the site.
Sam! A little patience! Looks like it DID get posted!
William: I’m not seeing it. I linked to the Wheels4Life site, the “Sam” on the comment thread didn’t. That is a different Sam.