Knights help distribute wheelchairs to disabled in Afghanistan

Published: 2003-10-10

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- The Knights of Columbus joined the Wheelchair Foundation and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in September to provide 5,000 wheelchairs to disabled men, women and children in Afghanistan. The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization based in New Haven, donated 2,000 of the wheelchairs, according to an announcement. As a result of more than three decades of almost continuous warfare in Afghanistan, international aid officials estimate that up to 10 percent of the country's 22 million people are physically disabled from land-mine injuries, shrapnel wounds and illness, and require wheelchairs for mobility. According to the United Nations, Afghanistan now has one of the most serious land-mine problems of any country in the world. Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said the wheelchair donation "underscores in a very meaningful way that the American people care about the people of Afghanistan."

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