March 26, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jackie Pugh
925-200-1154
jpugh@calpoly.edu

Cal Poly Wheelchair Foundation Hosts 7th Annual Gift of Mobility Gala April 12

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly student chapter of the Wheelchair Foundation will host its seventh annual "The Gift of Mobility" fund-raiser on Saturday, April 12, at 6 p.m. at the Embassy Suites in San Luis Obispo.

The April event features dinner and a live and silent auction. Auction items were donated from local businesses, organizations and individuals across the United States. Some of those items include:

• Two tickets to the Hollywood premier of “Get Smart,” with an invitation to the after party courtesy of Quentin Lilly, president of Technicolor, Inc.
• VIP tickets to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, as well as a private tour of Leno’s car and motorcycle collection
• Delta Airlines tickets to anywhere in the world Delta flies
• Golf packages and much more

This year the club is collaborating with four San Luis Obispo County Rotary clubs to raise more than $150,000. Club members hope to extend their philanthropic efforts to include building water wells, creating educational scholarships, and providing food for orphaned children in Malawi, Africa.

Over the past six years, the Cal Poly Wheelchair Foundation has raised more than $250,000 and delivered some 3,300 wheelchairs to people in need in Peru, Ethiopia, Thailand, Guatemala, Belize, Argentina and Paraguay.  The club has received three President's Community-Based Learning and Service Awards for Significant Service.

A successful gala event will help the club reach its goal of raising $500,000 in seven years.

Tickets for the gala event are $100 each, and the proceeds provide a wheelchair for a person in need in Malawi. Those unable to attend the event but wishing to donate can contact the Cal Poly Wheelchair Foundation at 805-756-2010 or calpoly@wheelchairfoundation.org.

For more information, contact Josh Burroughs at joushua.burroughs@gmail.com.

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