{"id":10973,"date":"2012-06-01T10:30:22","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T08:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/06\/10-wheelchairs-to-the-association-for-the-physically-disabled\/"},"modified":"2012-06-01T10:30:22","modified_gmt":"2012-06-01T08:30:22","slug":"10-wheelchairs-to-the-association-for-the-physically-disabled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/10-wheelchairs-to-the-association-for-the-physically-disabled\/","title":{"rendered":"10 wheelchairs to the Association for the Physically Disabled"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The fifth A-Bay Wheelchair Wednesday in May ended on a positive note with a donation of 10 wheelchairs to the Association for the Physically Disabled in Nelson Mandela Bay by SPAR<\/a> Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n

Six retailers and three distribution centre employees volunteered to join SPAR<\/a>\u2019s special guest, Paralympic gold medallist Kevin Paul, in spending four hours going about their daily tasks strapped in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

Paul, who was born without pectoral muscles on the left side of his body and is not severely disabled, has already qualified for four swimming events and looks set to be a major medal contender when the team is announced next month. He is currently ranked number one in the world in the 100m breaststroke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m involved with people in wheelchairs quite a lot. But to have to sit in one for four hours and actually feel what it\u2019s like is a really humbling experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t actually understand until you\u2019re in those people\u2019s position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul said he and his helper, swimming coach Brian Elliot, had experienced difficulties with simple activities able-bodied people took for granted \u2013 such as finding a table at a coffee shop and using an ATM.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything takes a lot longer. There\u2019s not just strain on the person with the disability, but also on the entire family. I think we learnt that on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets easier with help, but it\u2019s not an easy situation to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to APD fundraiser Willie Bosch, the aim of the initiative was to raise awareness among business leaders about the challenges that people with disabilities face and set about finding constructive ways to address them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had to rate Port Elizabeth in terms of being disabled-friendly, I\u2019d say we\u2019re fair, not good, but we\u2019re getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n

SPAR Eastern Cape marketing director Martin Webber said some 66 000 people in the city were classified as disabled. \u201cOn the whole, the majority of our stores are friendly towards people with a disability but we can always improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to be seen as the retailer that takes it to that new level and provide a better experience for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The retailer\u2019s contribution rounds up to 50 the number of wheelchairs that will be donated to children with disabilities in the metro.<\/p>\n

The wheelchairs will be presented at a handover ceremony at the Red Location Museum in New Brighton on June 6.<\/p>\n

In addition, the proceeds from Wednesday\u2019s event will go to the APD Day Care Centre in Motherwell, which looks after 29 children with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Zonke SUPERSPAR<\/a> owner Kevin Klette, who took part on the day, said he was pleased that the money raised would assist his community directly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe funds go towards helping people that are right around the corner from us and are customers of ours. They support us, so I\u2019m glad we can help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klette said the initiative had been a real eye-opener. \u201cWe have five wheelchair-friendly trolleys but only now do we know how to work them properly. I see they actually strap on to the chair.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the store\u2019s merchandising staff had responded well and were now more aware of the needs of customers in wheelchairs, such as offering assistance in getting products off the top shelves.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I found it extremely frustrating. I couldn\u2019t go to and from the receiving department without assistance because the ramp is so steep.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys also had to carry me upstairs to my office and, once there, I couldn\u2019t do simple things like switch on my PC or charge my cellphone \u2013 I couldn\u2019t reach them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the four hours felt really long, Klette said it had given him a new perspective. \u201cWe\u2019ve never actually spent too much time thinking about what it\u2019s like for a person in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to get involved. It\u2019s far more than simply signing a cheque or giving away a prize.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wheelchair<\/p>\n

Seated, from left: advertising and promotions manager Wendy Westraadt, Paralympic swimmer Kevin Paul, APD fundraiser Willie Bosch. With them are helpers (back, from left) SPAR EC sponsorship controller Lelan\u00e8 du Plessis and swimming coach Brian Elliot. Photo: Richard Huggard<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fifth A-Bay Wheelchair Wednesday in May ended on a positive note with a donation of 10 wheelchairs to the Association for the Physically Disabled in Nelson Mandela Bay by SPAR Eastern Cape. Six retailers and three distribution centre employees volunteered to join SPAR\u2019s special guest, Paralympic gold medallist Kevin Paul, in spending four hours […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1289,5],"class_list":{"0":"post-10973","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-mype","8":"tag-port-elizabeth-2","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}