Sorry for the long post, but I want to take a moment to let our members know that we have agreed to do a group build to provide a really awesome experience for a really great kid. Before I tell you about the build project, I’d like to share the little bio I was sent by Ryan, President of Magic Wheelchair. Magic Wheelchair is a national nonprofit organization that does just this type of thing – they make magical experiences for deserving handicapped children. Mythbuster Adam Savage is on their Board of Directors, and I was priveleged enough to be able to speak with him about it at the recent NOMCON conference in Santa Fe in June. There are tons of photos of other builds that have been done at MagicWheelchair.org, and you can also search YouTube for Magic Wheelchair to see even more.
So here’s Logan’s bio:
Child’s Name: Logan Stewart
Date Registered: 10/11/2016 02:40AM
Child’s Age: 11
Tell Us About Your Child: Logan suffered from non-accidental head trauma at the age of two. It has left him unable to walk, talk, speak, or eat by mouth. I believe that he understands more than he is able to communicate. He has only a manual wheelchair and must be pushed wherever he goes. Logan is the sweetest, happiest child alive. He is never angry, never cries (unless he is hurt), and never gets upset.
What Costume Is Your Child Dreaming Of? We were thinking a policemen/highway patrolman. His car could have headlights & tailights, a strobe, siren, etc. My thought was also that his para could wear some sort of prison uniform and be his backseat passenger (as she will have to push him at school anyway). Then for Halloween night I could take her place.
What Event Is Your Child Planning To Use Their Costume For? (Halloween, Parade, Race, Dance, Etc): Halloween for now. Could wear in parades in the future.
The goal of Magic Wheelchair, in my own words, is to take the wheelchair that a child lives with every day of his or her life, and do our own “Pimp My Ride” Halloween/Parade costume/cosplay build on it. If the child absolutely loves Star Wars, then he might have his wheelchair become an X-Wing or a Tie Fighter. If a handicapped little girl loves Cinderella, then she might get an Enchanted Pumpkin coach to drive. The child suddenly goes from being the handicapped child that is avoided by the other kids at the park to becoming the center of attention, with the coolest wheelchair anyone can imagine, and a costume to go along with it. And a big boost in his self-esteem when he becomes the most envied kid in town.
I spoke to Logan’s grandmother yesterday, and will be visiting with the family in Oklahoma (about 90 minutes from here) on Tuesday. Logan wants to become either a Highway Patrolman or a Fireman. He can communicate enough to let us know which one he’s decided on, so I’ll have that information this week.
I’ll be coordinating MakeICT’s build team, and we’re going to make his Halloween an EPIC event for him! I spoke to our Area Leads at their most recent meeting, and they’re all on board to get all of the areas involved. (Did you know we have awesome Area Leads and Assistants?) Several folks have already volunteered to help, including Jerry Carpenter, who has had some experience building with foam for boat races at the Wichita River Festival in the past. I know we have others with other skills, too, so come join the team builds! We’ll be scheduling build sessions every Sunday, and possibly on other days, and those will be posted on the calendar very soon. Even if you’ve never held a screwdriver, you’re welcome to come help us make Logan’s life a little more fun…he deserves it! And we won’t even charge you to help out!
So this is my official call for volunteers. We will need lights. And sirens. And a uniform or costume. And sculpting and painting and wiring and dozens of other things. I need as many folks as we can get, and our build team will be having an EPIC reveal party with Logan in October, with media and first responders and lots of attention for Logan and for MakeICT, so please join us!
We’ll also need to either do a bit of fundraising for materials or find an angel donor, or both, so if you know someone who has a few hundred bucks they need to part with, send a note to @David so we can start gathering our supplies. I hope we can get started this coming weekend, but I’ll be posting for sure on Tuesday night.
Thanks, MakeICT, for being awesome!