“I am very proud of all the great things our department and center do for the communities we serve ♡.”
At the end of 2024, our colleagues located in The Villages struck gold when they searched for support for an older person in need.
“Every year as one of the ways we give back to our community, we sponsor a couple of older adults via our local Salvation Army,” said Carla Vandeweerd, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of UF Health – Precision Health Research Center. “This year, the gentleman on our list, Allen, who is 71, asked for a power chair or scooter to get around in as he doesn’t yet qualify for Medicare to provide anything beyond manual. He and his wife are struggling with that and restricted in their activity as a result.”
Gallery of Team and Donations
Vandeweerd continues: “We set about looking to fundraise internally to make this happen, as mobility is the best kind of Christmas gift. While concurrently fundraising internally, we set about scouring the marketplace and calling all the mobility stores in our area to see about finding a used model in good shape.”
They did even better than expected. Mobility Monkey, a mobility company in Belleview, agreed to partner with the team to provide a brand-new scooter for free.
In December, the team visited Mobility Monkey and met with Allen’s wife to present the scooter, along with additional donations of shoes and household goods.
In November, the team at The Villages collected 110 pounds of food for the Thanksgiving food drive.
“I am very proud of all the great things our department and center do for the communities we serve ♡,” wrote Vandeweerd.