A wheelchair giveaway

Ten years ago, Philip Pavone owned a pawn shop, and some of his old, motorized wheelchairs had not sold. So he placed an ad in the local Connecticut paper offering them for free. Within two weeks, he received sixty (60) letters from people who needed them.

"At that moment, I realized how many people out there were suffering," he said. Some who wrote to him had not been able to leave their homes for months, or years. So he bought, repaired and gave away four more used wheelchairs. Then he asked people to donate them, so he could repair them and give them away. Now his process of pairing recipients with their chairs culminates each year with a major event during the holiday season, when 100 chairs and scooters are given away free in a single day.