Give the Gift of Mobility
About P.E.T. Florida
Everyone deserves the fredom of mobility!
Why Our Name
Hopefully, the fact that we show our name as an acronym is a clue that we don’t really deal in dogs and cats. Our name was coined by our founders back in the 90’s who wanted a short and easy one to convey our mission of mobility. Thus P.E.T. was chosen as an abbreviation of Personal Energy Transportation. That’s what we deliver to our recipients in the form of our unique vehicle, which itself is often referred to as a cart, or more recenly, a handcycle.
WHAT IS MOBILITY WORLDWIDE?
You will sometimes see this name associated with us: Mobilitdy Worldwide. So what’s our name — is it that or P.E.T. Florida? Since the first shop set up to make handcycles back in 1994, other affiliates have sprung up across the U.S. and now in Africa. In 2001 we became one of them. As the number of these independent shops were added, it became necessary to form a networking arrangement to assure adherence to engineering and production standards and provide administrative support services. That entity was established in Columbia Missouri, and serves us well. Think of Mobility Worldwidet as an umbrella identity covering all of the cooperating affiliates involved. So our best answer to the question of who we are – we’re P.E.T. Florida, affiliated with Mobility Worldwide.
OUR HISTORY
The roots of our story can be traced back to the African country of Zaire, where missionary Larry Hills had become increasingly aware of so many people of all ages unable to walk there. The reasons included birth defects, polio, land mines and accidents. So often the resulting disability meant not just the challenges of everyday getting around – but often it carried isolation and discrimination, as well. Larry’s awareness of this peaked one day when he nearly stepped on a woman carrying a baby on her back (she had been crawling for miles to get water).
It was then that Larry contacted Mel West, the pastor of his supporting church in Columbia, Missouri to share his concern and his growing vision to meet the need. Mel then enlisted the aid of an experienced mechanical engineer, Earl Miner, to develop a hand-cranked vehicle that would work where conventional wheelchairs didn’t. Like any good R&D beginning, it took a few tries to get the design right, but it came, resulting in the formation of the first handcycle production facility to make more, eventually a whole lot more over the years that followed.
Larry Hills
Earl Miner
Mel West
Our story moves on from there to the arrival of Larry Hills and his wife Laura as they became residents here at the Penney Retirement Community (PRC) in 2000. Because former farmer and missionary Larry wasn’t inclined to rocking chair life, he soon decided to try his hand at putting together Earl’s invention himself here in his garage. Then, not long after, fellow missionary Sid Rooy and others joined in, and P.E.T. Florida was officially underway to become the second assembly facility to produce Larry’s dream. That was 2001, and from there, the shop home moved from his garage to a former service station nearby — and finally to its own building on the grounds of PRC. This location has proved to be a strong advantage in recruiting volunteers (PRC residents make up a large percentage of the labor force in our shop). Larry passed away in 2020, but his legacy lives on. Since the day he completed that first handcycle, more than 17,000 have followed to bless disabled recipients all over the world.
CELEBRATION AT P.E.T. FLORIDA SHOP AS NEW POWDER COATING FACILITY IS OPENED (FUNDED BY LOCAL ROTARY CLUBS)
OUR MISSION
PET Florida’s mission is three-fold:
To provide a free Gift of Mobility through the production and distribution of Mobility Carts. The vehicle pictured uses the personal arm strength of a mobility challenged person for transportation. Recipients can transport themselves and a cargo across terrain where a standard wheelchair cannot go.
To provide meaningful volunteer opportunities for retirees and other interested persons in the funding, manufacturing, and distributing of Mobility Carts. Situated in Northeast Florida within the Penney Retirement Community, we provide a unique opportunity for retirees, students, and volunteers from surrounding communities to demonstrate their compassion and love through Mobility Worldwide.
To increase the production and distribution of Mobility Carts by offering encouragement to new Mobility Worldwide affiliate sites in the United States and, where possible, in other countries, including training as called upon by Mobility Worldwide.
How You Can Get Involved
Giving:
Our current cost per vehicle runs us about $425.00. That may not sound like much, but when you multiply that by our annual production goal of 800 lately, that’s $340,000. Over the years, that budget has been met by gifts large and small. Be assured that your gift, whatever the size, will be important to us and to the grateful recipients of our handcycles.
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.” REGISTRATION# CH76935
Volunteering:
For those of you within an hour or so of Penney Farms, consider joining us for a day a week — or month. Need inspiration? A faithful group from a church in Gainesville FL has been coming here monthly for 13 years now (they’re the five on the far left of the group picture above). For you northern readers, here’s an idea to consider. Next to our shop we have an RV area equipped with utilities where snowbirds can come to work with us in the winter. How about considering a vacation with a purpose?
Mobility Worldwide Penney Farms 2020 (10 Minute Version)
This video is a longer version of the 5-minute one on the Home page. It has extended footage of Mobility Carts overseas and of volunteers at the Penney Farms affiliate.
“The PET Song”
The PET Song, music with a slide-show presentation, was posted to YouTube in October 2009. The song itself is catchy and tells the story of PETs, or Mobility Carts as they have been known since 2016. Dr. Roger Hofmeister, a retired physician and still on the national board of Mobility Worldwide in 2020, wrote the words and music to the song in 2006. His friend, Dr. Jack Allison, recorded it in 2009, and Susan Williams, a volunteer and board member for Columbia, MO, and her son Brett, added a slide show to the song and posted it to YouTube.
Florida – Penney Farms Videos
The following are the newest pictures photographed at PET Florida. They were professionally taken by Penney Retirement Community resident Jim Hennigar in January 2022 and show volunteers in various phases of producing mobility carts. Music accompanies the photos.
Larry Hills Passes On
Larry Hills, missionary and co-founder of PET, passed on to glory on June 3, 2020. He and his wife, Laura, had retired to Penney Retirement Community at Penney Farms, FL, in 1999. Under Larry’s direction, the first mobility cart (or PET) at Penney Farms was produced in 2001. He is profoundly missed, but his deep spiritual commitment to convey the love of Christ to all will be a legacy long carried on through the mobility carts he envisioned when he first saw the crippled woman in Africa with a baby on her back crawling on the ground. In the following excerpt from Mercy in Motion, Larry tells the story.
Wheels of Life 2009
Wheels of Life was produced by Venture International, a distribution partner with a mission in Kyrgyzstan. In January 2009, 140 adult and 22 small PETs were shipped from Penney Farms, Florida. This 12-minute video tells the story of their delivery to folks in Kyrgyzstan. Note that since 2016, PETs (Personal Energy Transportation) are more officially known as “Mobility Carts.”
Mercy in Motion: Overview 2007
All of the following Mercy in Motion videos were filmed in Viet Nam with Columbia, Missouri, the target affiliate. When the first PETs (Personal Energy Transportation) were made in Columbia in 1994, it was called The PET Project. Since 2016, PET is doing business as Mobility Worldwide. Further, there may be some things in these videos that have changed in the intervening years, e.g. the design of the carts is constantly being improved, including the brake system. And importation rules have eliminated filling extra space in the cartons with used clothes and other items. Today, in 2020, there are 24 affiliates including Penney Farms, FL, which began in 2001, and Sierra Leone and Zambia in Africa.
All of the following Mercy in Motion videos were produced in Viet Nam by Sarah Hill, newscaster, and Scott Schaefer, videographer, for KOMU-TV, Channel 8, in Columbia, MO. The overview video has excerpts from the other four. There is dialogue in it by co-founders Mel West and Larry Hills; Earl Miner, the PET designer; and volunteer and national board member, Dr. Roger Hofmeister, composer of The PET Song above.
The four following videos, Mercy in Motion Parts 1–4, are expanded versions of the Mercy in Motion Overview (above). They were part of “Sarah’s Stories” told on radio station KOMU-TV, Channel 8, in Columbia, MO, in 2007.
Become a Volunteer Today
Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Cras ultricies ligula sed magna dictum porta. Cras ultricies ligula sed magna dictum porta. Praesent sapien massa, convallis a pellentesque nec, egestas non nisi.
Giving Mobility by Building Carts Since 2001
People Helped
$ Raised
Carts Built
We’ve Raised over $400,000 to Help Provide Mobility Around the World
How Your Donations Can Make a Difference
PET Florida Penney Farms is committed to transforming lives by providing mobility solutions to individuals with disabilities worldwide. By making a donation, you can play a vital role in empowering those who lack access to wheelchairs or other mobility aids, enabling them to live fuller, independent lives. Your contribution can help bring mobility—and hope—to countless individuals.
Get in Touch! Get Involved!
Volunteer! Donate!
Join us at P.E.T. Florida Penney Farms in making a difference in the lives of those in need. Whether you want to volunteer your time, make a donation, or simply learn more about our programs, your support helps us provide the gift of mobility to individuals who depend on it. Together, we can create a community of caring and enable more people to experience greater independence and joy. Get involved today and help us make a lasting impact!
Get in Touch
Phone: (904) 284-5495
Get Our Newsletter
Volunteers Needed
4566 Lewis Avenue
Penney Farms, FL 32079
Support P.E.T. Florida!
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE." REGISTRATION# CH76935
P.E.T. Florida - Penney Farms LLC is a 501(c) Non-Profit Organization