PUSH INTERNATIONAL
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After years of wanting to go on a mission trip I finally had the opportunity to help lead a team from my church with my husband. I fell in love with the work we did, the people we met, and the lives we were able to touch. There is so much we did to help the disabled community get mobility and help lift a burden from their families too. My husband worked with this organization longer than I did and we were able to get to know the president very well. We were able to go down for his funeral after he passed away and to be a part of the planning for the summer. We then flew down early that summer to get things in place for the teams we would be hosting. This organization does a great job starting here in the states with there organization of awesome fundraisers and great travel agent help all the way through the trip. They really take care of the people they work with and the people they help.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
The wheelchairs distributions, the houses we rebuilt, the clothing that we took and gave to families in need, the local community that we were able to help and give work to, the food distributions we aided in and the expansion projects for organization.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
expand to more than just Mazatlan, with facilities world wide, help more often, or even move down there myself to make more of a difference. Raise more money to help them and send more teams to help the communities.
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What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
the smiles on the faces of those that we were able to help. Nothing can beat those memories, those hugs and knowing that you really made a difference in someones life.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
Kind and caring, committed to a cause that most people wouldn't want to help out with. They work in the hottest environment and pour their lives, their time, and their resources to do as much as they can and the best job possible.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
Give hope to the world of people with disabilities and their families. Expand to reach the ends of the earth and be able to fund full time people to work the facilities.
Ways to make it better...
I had been able to spend more time there, if I knew more Spanish and if I could have had more resources to help them out more.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
Financial, and more full time volunteers.
One thing I'd also say is that...
This organization is awesome and does great things to help those who really are in need and would not have the money to afford wheelchairs and mobility aids.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About once a year
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2007
Anything I could say about my trip to Mazatlan would be an understJessica and Lionel playing with blocksatement. The experience itself was invaluable. Push International has developed a program for their volunteers that allows them to immerse themselves into the culture of the people they are helping, while giving them the chance to learn without boundaries. The environment they have created is conducive to new ideas and self-discovery, something that is hard to find in a clinical setting in the United States. As volunteers, we were challenged to solve problems that we had not faced before and work as a team to get the job done. We learned that it is okay for your idea to fail time and time again, if there is a solution to be found in the end. Unbreakable bonds were formed between team members and the families who came into our lives through this mission, and in the end, everyone left with a little more hope than they had come with.
Photos
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
the form of education. I was able to help the people of Mazatlan, Mexico by providing them with wheelchairs and advice for home modifications or home therapy programs. I learned about their culture and ways of providing therapy to their children.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
expand their therapy in the Mazatlan by adding an adult rehab center to the campus. Push is able to provide wheelchairs and mobility equipment to the adult and pediatric populations, but right now they only have the equipment to provide therapy to peds.
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What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
interacting with the people in Mazatlan. I really enjoyed that through Push, both the people who received wheelchairs and their caregivers as well as the volunteers were able to gain hope and faith in the world in which we live.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
caring, warm hearted people. They often put others needs in front of their own and show a true compassion for mankind.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
renew hope in the world. Many people are limited by their access to mobility. By providing mobility, Push enables people to live their lives to the fullest and restore their faith in the world and themselves.
Ways to make it better...
I were able to spend more time in Mexico and help more people.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
financial. This organization needs full time therapist on their staff to lead groups of volunteers and to open an adult rehab clinic in Mexico. They would also be able to expand their campuses around the world with additional funding.
One thing I'd also say is that...
Push is an amazing organization, ran by amazing people who are willing to give all their time and energy to keep the organization alive and to allow others to experience the same amazing experiences as their volunteers already do.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every month
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
I have been on trips with Push International many times. It always amazes me to see the gratitude that the people we serve share with us. I am a much better person after I return from the trip. I set out to serve the people and always find that I am the one being served. When you get the chance to get on your knees in front of a person who is thought of as not significant in their culture, see the smiles and joy in their face, while wiping the tears from your own, you truely see a miracle. The big difference that i find with Push International is these many miracles. Push International always puts relationship first. Push builds into the community and doesn't just hold events. Push makes promises to the people and keeps them by returning to serve again and again. Family is the best word I can think of. Push is part of the family with the people they serve and I found that having served with Push that I am part of the family too.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
The ability to return to the project multiple times in Mexico. To see the relationships grow, the people grow, to grow myself.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every six months
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
Meeting Sergio Valdez is a memorable experience indeed. Although quite humble, he is also very formidable, confident and energetic. His mechanical and carpentry skills were developed through a career in construction. He comes from a family of carpenters and craftspeople. He is strong as an ox and always has a kindly smile on his face. Sergio is also an artist. But that is only the beginning. Sergio regularly participates in the Annual Marathon in his home town. He was ranked 1st in tennis in the singles and doubles division in his district and is an athelete of high order. Since the accident which broke his back in a fall on a construction site 16 years ago, Sergio Valdez is also a wheelchair user. Working at Push International is his dream job, he is happy to tell others at every opportunity. "I never dreamed that I would have the chance to serve so many disabled people or to make such an immediate and positive impact on the lives of so many families", he said to reporters in an interview from the local press on one occasion. Today Sergio is the Director of Distributions at Push International’s Hub # 1 based in Mazatán, México. He oversees the modifications, adaptations and adjustments to each wheelchair to assure that every piece of donated equipment perfectly suits the needs and conditions of the person with disabilities and of his or her family. Sergio says, “Every day I am blessed to see how my work lifts people up, recognizes their inherent dignity and inspires them to use their own unique talents to overcome the challenges and circumstances they face in their own daily lives.”
Photos
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
I have seen mothers carry their disabled child into a distribution. I have watched them weep with joy when they explain how the wheelchair will let family members take this child out into the yard so that she will be able to watch her siblings at play.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
...make sure that adequate funding never hindered the important work of bringing dignity, hope, personal mobility and increased independence into the lives of people with mobility impairments.
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What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
seeing that it is not only the recipient of the equipment who benefits, but that it is also the donor in the USA and the Volunteer who makes the personal connections to the recipient and his/her family during distributions.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
...professional, motivational and committed to deliver the best personalized seating and to making every customized adaptation and modification that is necessary so that the wheelchair best serves the recipient's needs.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
...open additional Hubs across México to bring more sustainable mobility equipment centers based on successful partnering with local supporters and advocates - replicating the model established in Mazatlán.
Ways to make it better...
... funding would allow Teams to work back-to-back in immediate succession so that projects would get completed more quickly and sequentially. Result: More equipment donated to more people more quickly and more efficiently.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
... reliable sources of funding. Everyone is a volunteer except Sergio who was written about earlier.
One thing I'd also say is that...
The Push experience is a life-changer for the Volunteer Team Members. This is a place where you can SEE how what you are doing makes an IMMEDIATE and POSITIVE impact on the lives of the recipients - at every distribution event.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every week
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
Another team member and I worked on fitting a fourteen-year-old girl into a chair while on a distribution in Mazatlan. We worked on this chair and with this family for over an hour and a half. We talked to the family to learn their story and had to make adjustments and get different pieces to make the chair work for their daughter and their lifestyle. And all our hard work was more than worth it when the girl's mother thanked us in Spanish with tears in her eyes. The work you do down there changes the lives of not only the disabled and their families but also your own. This trip and this organization taught me to appreciate people of different cultures and from different walks of life.
Photos
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
I have seen the results of this first hand, on distributions in Mexico. I have also met with donors here in the United States.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
make sure that they always have enough funding to transport and distribute donated wheelchairs and other equipment to a greater and greater number of people.
More feedback...
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
meeting people on outreaches
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
passionate and dedicated
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
distribute more equipment to people in need and make a greater impact on the disabled community
Ways to make it better...
I could keep in touch with some of the people I met down there
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
having enough funding
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About once a year
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2007
Our church has sent several teams to serve with PUSH International over the last few years and have loved the opportunity to help bring mobility and dignity to many people of all ages. Seeing the impact that mobility has on the lives of the person receiving the mobility aid is indescribable; but the impact on their family is very emotional and freeing for them as well. PUSH, International serves an important role in our world, bringing people together to aid and serve, to love and care for folks in need of mobility--a powerful ministry!
Photos
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Seeing the impact that mobility has on the lives of the person receiving the mobility aid and their families.
More feedback...
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About once a year
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2008
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