RIVER FUND ANSWERS BCSD’S REQUEST FOR STUDENT WHEELCHAIR

– It started with a phone call. It ended with smiles.

A Bullhead City School District student needed a wheelchair to get to and from school. Assistant transportation director Patricia Frasure put out the word and was directed to the area’s largest locally-based emergency and crisis assistance organization, River Fund, Inc.

After doing a little bit of homework, Mike Conner, River Fund’s president and CEO, found the perfect wheelchair that can be used by not only the student whose parents contacted the District for help, but other students as well.

“This wheelchair is perfect,” Frasure said after Conner assembled and delivered it.

“This is what we enjoy doing,” Conner replied. He explained that the wheelchair was purchased using River Fund’s unrestricted donations. River Fund is a designated payroll deduction charity for BCSD and many other agencies and businesses in the Bullhead City/Laughlin area.

“It is a partnership we enjoy,” said BCSD Superintendent Carolyn Stewart. She added that River Fund has helped BCSD employees, students and their families in emergencies ranging from homelessness to home fires and medical crises.

According to River Fund, the primary underlying need for assistance in this area can be attributed to calls for energy assistance. Other basic needs include rent money, food, temporary shelter, medical and pharmaceutical needs, vehicle repairs, and similar issues, resulting in many requests. Major problems such as homelessness, domestic violence, cancer, memory loss, veterans’ assistance, and disaster assistance caused by COVID-19 and its related economic downturn are now growing concerns and are top priorities at River Fund.

BCSD’s new wheelchair will have strict sanitary protocols. It will be thoroughly cleaned between uses and stored in a secure area. It will also have a unique protective covering, custom made by a BCSD employee using durable material from old school bus seats no longer in use.

Additional information about River Fund and how to donate is available at riverfundinc.com .