Many wheelchairs sent to Ukraine by a non-profit organization in Montana

Bozeman, Montana – 61 wheelchairs and other pieces of mobility equipment have been sent to the Ukrainian town of Lviv by ROC Wheels in Bozeman.

“It was probably about a month after the war started over in Ukraine, and everyone at ROC, and the Board, wanted to do something — we didn’t quite know what,” ROC Wheels executive director Dean Hampton said. “We figured out that we could help out, taking wheelchairs.”

A faith-based nonprofit organization called ROC Wheels provides wheelchairs and gait trainers to children throughout the world who require them.

A plan is already underway to send additional wheelchairs to the Kopychyntsi District Municipal Hospital in the Ternopil Region in addition to the 61 wheelchairs that are now en route to Ukraine.

“We know that the Russians have already left landmines in places that they’ve evacuated out of,” said ROC Wheels Director of Development Sam Knight. “The essential nature of what we do, in terms of the wheelchairs, is really important.”

Knight emphasizes the value of wheelchairs in a war-torn nation.

“It makes a huge difference for the families if they don’t have to carry a disabled child around, and it gives them a little bit of freedom—even in the midst of all that horror,” he said.