Saint Leo University Community Donates Wheelchair To Child

From Saint Leo University: The Saint Leo University community will see the fruits of its labor as a child receives a wheelchair from the Caps of Love program. Saint Leo students, faculty, staff, and community organizations and businesses collected plastic bottle caps for the program.

Funds from the recycling went to purchase a wheelchair, which will be presented at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, July 13, in the Student Community Center boardrooms. The recipient is a third-grader at Woodland Elementary School in Zephyrhills in the Pasco County School District. Caps of Love is a Florida-based nonprofit organization that recycles plastic tops. The proceeds from recycling the plastic are used to purchase new and refurbished wheelchairs for children with mobility disabilities.

Under the guidance of the Office of Residence Life, Saint Leo collected 12,000 pounds of plastic caps—enough to fill 21 pallets. On March 23, Saint Leo held a celebration and send-off for the Caps of Love project featuring food, music, and giveaways while a truck was loaded to take the caps for recycling at Commercial Plastics Recycling in Tampa.

The goal of the Caps of Love organization is to, “educate the public on how to identify and recycle correctly and to provide wheelchairs to the physically challenged under the age of 21,” in the United States, according to its website.

Caps of Love founder Valerie Mathieu will visit Saint Leo on July 13 when the wheelchair is presented to the elementary school student.

Saint Leo University had many partners in this project including Home Depot; Zephyrhills Water; Rowland Transportation; Sabrina Burton Schultz and the Diocese of St. Petersburg; Montessori by the Sea School; Pasco-Hernando State College-North campus; Southern Charm Mobile Home Park in Zephyrhills; The Rock Church in Brooksville; Trinity Church of Wesley Chapel; Highlander Café located in Crystal River; Naval Air Station Pensacola; Domino’s Pizza; and several Pasco and Hillsborough county schools and scout troops.

“Saint Leo University participates in this program to promote giving of our time and realizing that together as a community we can make a difference,” said Heidi D’Ambrosio, senior coordinator for Residence Life. “I think this program is fantastic because it is a way to make a difference in a child’s life and it has brought the community together as well as four counties.”

Images Courtesy of Saint Leo University