In addition to providing carts to those unable to walk, Mobility Worldwide provides meaningful opportunities for volunteers in all walks of life. Most of these volunteers are retired men. However, Daniella Christopher and Julie Smith are examples of the hardworking female volunteers at the Stow, OH shop. Moreover, these two women help sew and assemble the seats on all of the carts.
DANIELLA
Daniella has been volunteering at MWW for about a year now, which she does in addition to her “real job” as an investment advisor. Despite most of the MWW volunteers being retired and in a different stage of life, Daniella finds a connection with volunteers many years her senior by sharing the joy of impacting individuals in developing countries. She remarks that she is “amazed by her fellow volunteers”, most of whom are in their 70’s and 80’s, who come in every day and serve the Lord. Living for Christ for much of her life, Daniella is grateful for her opportunity at MWW which inspires her to fix her eyes on Christ daily.
JULIE
In addition to Daniella, Julie is another one of the many volunteers at Mobility Worldwide who uses her time to build carts for people with lower extremity disabilities. Julie specialized in sewing vinyl fabric into seat covers that encase the seat bottoms and backs. The vinyl material is the same that is used by recreational boat manufacturers to make their marine seat cushions. Julie uses a commercial grade sewing machine to sew the vinyl fabric according to a specific pattern that guarantees a snug fit on the seat bottoms and backs.
Her goal is to sew four cushions a day, although she sometimes works ahead. Admiringly, her passion for helping the ministry called her to quit her previous job in order to fully commit to sewing seat cushions for Mobility. Julie is a seven-year veteran of this amazing ministry. She believes that it is a call from God to help people, saying “God has called us to take care of His children and serve people.”
