The Wheelchair Federation donated 2,500 wheelchairs to Hainan Disabled Person's Federation (HIDPF) and Hainan Welfare Fund for the Handicapped.

The donation is valued at 1.03 million yuan (US$127,000), and it is the largest wheelchair donation the HIDPF has ever received.

Kenneth E. Behring, Chairman of the Wheelchair Federation, saidat the ceremony held on Friday in Haikou, capital of Hainan, that he hopes the wheelchairs will bring convenience to people with physical disabilities in Hainan.

Sun Shuai, 19, received his wheelchair at the ceremony. "It is now possible for me to go out with this wheelchair and I no longerhave to stay at home all day long," he said.

According to HIDPF, the wheelchairs will be delivered to peoplewith physical disabilities in Hainan who cannot afford to buy one.

Headquartered in California of the United States, the Wheelchair Federation was founded in 2000 by Kenneth E. Behring and is a non-profit organization with the aim of delivering a wheelchair to every child, teenager and adult in the world who cannot afford one.

The Wheelchair Federation has donated 226,000 wheelchairs to more than 120 countries, including 50,000 to China.

According to statistics from the China Disabled Person's Federation, there are about 8.77 million people with physical disabilities in China, including 52,300 in Hainan.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2006)