Download newsletter in PDF format
Statistics
- Fiscal Year – July ’09 – June ’10, 779 PETs were produced and packed ready to be shipped!
- 890 PETs were sent to Cuba, India, Honduras, Haiti, Ecuador, Tajikistan and to our Distribution Partners: MedShare, World Medical Mission, and Hope Haven
We had PETs from last fiscal year to cover the difference between # produced and # sent!
Without a Vision the People Perish
This woman 'walked' on hands and knees for 54 years in Swaziland before receiving a PET.
Larry and Laura Hills had a vision to provide mobility to those unable to walk, born of their experiences in Africa. In 1994, the first model PET (Personal Energy Transportation) was born. Today, there are thousands of PETs and individuals , families and communities in more than 85 countries, including Ecuador, Haiti, Nepal, Zambia, Swaziland who are reaping the benefits of their vision.
Swaziland – Pets Around The World
The Luke team persuaded her to go with them, believing that this courageous woman would soon have an answer to her prayers. Her own personal PET was waiting for her. On the way, the team learned that for 54 years, her hands and knees were this lady's only means of transportation. Meningitis had left her unable to walk since she was five.
Swaziland is a poor country plagued by reoccurring years of drought coupled with a high risk of major infectious diseases. There are just .16% doctors for every 1,000 people (2004) compared to 2.3 per 1,000 (2002) in the US! Limited resources mean many with physical disabilities must ‘make do’ as best they can.
The Luke Commission – Compassionate Medicine sees this need while driving their mobile medical clinic throughout this tiny country no larger than New Jersey. They provide free medical care, Bibles, and the hope of the Gospel. In 2009, PET began partnering with the Luke Commission to supply PETs to those in need.
Recently, two Luke workers came upon a woman ‘walking’ on hands and knees along a dirt road. The woman’s hands were covered with thick rubber gloves to protect against Swaziland’s rocks and sharp thorns. Her knees were covered with calluses. She was on her way to pray in a hilltop church.
The Luke team persuaded her to go with them, believing that this courageous woman would soon have an answer to her prayers. Her own personal PET was waiting for her. On the way, the team learned that for 54 years, her hands and knees were this lady’s only means of transportation. Meningitis had left her unable to walk since she was five.
Overcome by emotion, she brushed away her flowing tears of joy with her gloved hand. Then she peeled off the gloves realizing with a huge smile they were no longer needed. Waving them overhead she beamed her smile into the crowd and filled the air with Hallelujahs.
Soon, she was being lifted into her very own chair. Overcome by emotion, she brushed away her flowing tears of joy with her gloved hand. Then she peeled off the gloves realizing with a huge smile they were no longer needed. Waving them overhead she beamed her smile into the crowd and filled the air with Hallelujahs.
This heart-warming account will be multiplied by 181 when PETS, shipped in July, are distributed throughout Swaziland. Thank you for giving the Gift of Mobility where it is so desperately needed.
Niger – Pets Around The World
| In Partnership with MedShare “Bridging the gap between surplus and need.”Partnerships are key in delivering PETs to those in need. MedShare, a provider of medical supplies based in Decatur, GA., began partnering with PET, Inc. in 2010. Recently they delivered a shipment of PETs from PET FL to Niger. |
Dr. Mindi Guptill eagerly watches as a PET is assembled.
Working in one of the poorest countries of the world, Dr. Mindi Guptill, a specialist in emergency medicine, sees many medically related needs that simply go unmet. When two PETs were delivered by MedShare to the hospital where she works, Dr. Guptill knew immediately where one of these chairs would go.
Dr. Mindi Guptill eagerly watched while the PETs complete with the needed tools were assembled. Then it was time to introduce a disabled man of the village to his new PET.
 Such a strange looking vehicle! The village man was not too sure about getting involved with it. |
 Finally, he allowed himself to be lifted into the PET. |
 Niger Man Receives PET through MedShare |
 His wide smile soon signaled his acceptance as he pedaled around the yard. Now he sells chickens to the villagers, using his cart to carry them. His is very pleased with his gift of mobility. |
CUBA – Pets Around The World
“PETs are running around the Province of Guantanamo, Cuba,” says Alberto Jones of Caribbean American Children Foundation. Persistence paid off for Alberto as he struggled with much red tape before the chairs were released. Now he sees people that were in such need freely moving around their villages. For him, that justifies all the sacrifices that went into making this project a reality. He wishes to convey his deepest gratitude to each and every one who have made this dream possible.
Republic of Georgia – Pets Around The World
Vazha Onashvili, at 36, suffers from hemophilia. He says that every morning he had to ask his neighbors to help transport him and his goods to his booth. Every evening he had to find someone to take him home. It was hard for everyone. He finally became the recipient of a PET. Now he is independent and transports his goods and himself back and forth every day. He is thankful for his new-found freedom.
Zambia, Africa – Pets Around The World
Pamela's joyful face tells the story! She is one of the thousands who have been given the Gift of Mobility.
Pamela’s joyful face tells the story! She is one of the thousands who have been given the Gift of Mobility. The PET program at the New Life Center in Zambia is committed to the production of PETs. For many years the metal parts and tires, which were not available in Zambia, went sent by PET MO – Columbia which had received a special grant. That grant is no longer available. So PET International has been coordinating the effort with all 17 PET Affiliates, long time vendors and many friends to supply enough parts for the Center to produce 500 PETs this next year.
The PET program at the New Life Center in Zambia is committed to the production of PETs.
The staging area for gathering all the materials is here at the Penney Farms PET site and is being coordinated by Dave Quirk. If one visited our site these days you might have to walk around or over the piles of boxes accumulating – waiting to be loaded into the container sitting next to our shop. Delbert Graves, Director of the New Life Center has this container parked here waiting to be filled. Our Vision is a truck filled with PETs…ready to be distributed to those in Zambia and perhaps to those waiting in the Congo! Hopefully, by the first week in September this GIFT of HOPE and LOVE will be on its way!
A HOT PRODUCTIVE SUMMER AT THE PET SHOP – THANKS TO SPECIAL VOLUNTEERS!
Jim Kaelin of the Orange Park Rotary Club is pictured here with Ridgeview students! Jim just received The District Governor's Citation "...in Honor of and Recognition of Devoted & Unselfish "Service Above Self". As a most faithful volunteer supervisor at PET and currently President of the PET FL - Penney Farms, Board of Directors we applaud this citation and extend our word of Thanks and Appreciation!
We can confirm that it is possible to work productively in steaming hot hot hot hot weather! With the guidance of shop supervisors: Ken Schneider, Jim Kaelin and Sid Rooy, plus a few regular adult volunteers, students from near and far took over the PET Shop!As a part of the International Baccalaureate Program of Ridgeview High School in Orange Park, FL the students are required to do a minimum of 10 hours of 'international' community service. From May through mid August there were 96 students who contributed more than 445 hours at PET! Working full days the end of May early August and half days in June and July – 99 PETs were packed. PLUS – the bins were filled with prepared wooden parts, painted boxes were piled high ready to be packed, packaging materials were sorted and prepared!
STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
12 eager young folks from the Arlington Hills United Methodist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota came on a mission, to learn about PET and help in the shop.
When the PET Shop reopened in August, 12 eager young folks from the Arlington Hills United Methodist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota came on a mission, to learn about PET and help in the shop. For four days 8 worked in the shop while 4 worked with the maintenance department of the nearby retirement community. The enthusiasm and energy permeated the Shop and while the water consumption increased significantly they faithfully worked until after working four days 36 PETs had been completed and packed!
 Making a Box |
 Packing a Box |
SWAZILAND – Pets Around The World
Charlie Stuart Loads PETS for Swaziland.
Before a PET gets on its way it takes a crew of those who are committed to the mission of providing PETs “to the least of these”. On one of the hottest days in July such a crew of volunteers. gathered late in the hot day. Scheduled for 9 a.m. the container finally arrived at 1:15 p.m.! The 181 PETs were in line ready to be loaded.! One by one, with dolleys and lifts and strong hands the boxes were loaded so that no space was left empty! This shipment was a collaborative effort of Push PETS from PET MO – Columbia; Pull PETs from PET MI – East Michigan, Children’s PETs from PET FL – Jacksonville and PET MI – Holland and adult PETs from Penney Farms! Tired, hot, not too dehydrated, the crew felt a sense of satisfaction as they contemplated the number of individuals and their families who would now have …NEW OPPORTUNITIES for a NEW LIFE!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
