Community Steps Up To Replace Wheelchairs Stolen From Van Nuys Humanitarian Group
VAN NUYS (CBSLA.com) — A group of local business and community leaders joined forces Thursday to help a Van Nuys humanitarian organization that fell victim to a callous crime.
On Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, a thief or thieves broke into a gated parking lot in the 7500 block of Tyrone Avenue and stole a truck filled with 80 wheelchairs Global Mobility was getting ready to ship to Indonesia for the disabled.
The stolen wheelchairs were worth $12,000. On Thursday, Assemblyman Matt Dababneh, D-Encino, presented checks in the amount of $15,000 to Global Mobility to cover the loss.
Dababneh along with Congressman Brad Sherman, Syd Leibovitch, President and Owner of Rodeo Realty, Andy Heyward, CEO of Genius Brands, Michael Mahdesian, CEO of Servicon Systems, and others donated the money to replace the wheelchairs.
"We have more pledges coming in this week. We'll continue to help raise money to really give this organization a boost because we want to make sure that tragedy turns into greater hope for more disabled individuals, especially children," Dababneh said.
If you would also like to help, go to Global Mobility's website and donate.
"It looked 24 hours ago as though 80 people were going to denied that gift of mobility. Because of the assemblyman's efforts, his friends and others who have communicated with us through the efforts of the media, that need is not going to be going unmet. In fact, we're going hopefully be able to provide even more wheelchairs to children than we would have been able to provide even before this tragic event," said Chris Grange, Chief Operating Officer at Global Mobility.
