| Dave McCarthy: Local group provides keys to van for wounded Marine
NORTH KINGSTOWN -- Thanks to a special lady from Rhode Island, a quadriplegic Marine from Wisconsin will receive heartfelt cheers -- and a set of keys -- when he's wheeled on the field at halftime of the Naval Academy-University of Massachusetts football game. Former Sgt. Jason Wittling, of Mason, Wis., will be on the 50-yard line Saturday, Sept. 9, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., to take the keys to a specially equipped van. With a Marine escort, and a general or two at his side, Wittling will receive the $60,000-van courtesy of Wheels for Warriors, a division of the North Kingstown-based Operation Support Our Troops, which is supported by donations and in-kind services from the public. "There are a lot of good people on this earth and they seem to find me," said Mary Kay Salomone, who heads Operation Support Our Troops out of her home in North Kingstown.
All sides feel anxiety over Dial-A-Ride
With a low, hydraulic whir, a Dial-A-Ride van extends a black steel welcome mat to Vivian Armendariz outside her apartment in northeast Fort Collins. A push of a joystick later, the 34-year-old Armendariz, who has spina bifida, backs her wheelchair onto the ramp, which lifts her into the van for an afternoon shopping trip to Target. .
Mobility Unlimited attempts to lift burden after Route 4's closure
When a bus route past his workplace closed earlier this month, Mark Towery took a week off the job just to plot how he would get around town. Wheelchair bound, Towery is relying on friends, co-workers and taxis while a local nonprofit agency readies a van for him to drive. The 33-year-old is just one in a group of disabled riders formerly reliant on Rogue Valley Transportation District's Route 4 that Mobility Unlimited can assist, said executive director Glory Cooper. "The services have been cut where they're most needed," Cooper said. A $1.2 million shortfall in RVTD's budget coupled with low ridership prompted the Sept. 1 closure of Route 4 past Rogue Valley Medical Center. RVTD's Valley Lift also was discontinued in that area because federal funding for the service is directly linked to the proximity of bus routes.
|
