Local Nonprofit Raises Record to Help Mobility Globally
Momentum Wheels for Humanity raises over $720,000 to bring mobility to people in Ukraine and around the world
For over 25 years, Momentum Wheels for Humanity has provided resources, training, and advocacy for children and adults with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. The annual Wheels In Motion gala is one of the ways that the organization raises funds to support its global mission. For two years Momentum Wheels for Humanity was not able to hold the annual event due to COVID. The event celebrates the life-changing impact of mobility and raises funds to support people with physical disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Since 1996, Momentum Wheels for Humanity, a subsidiary of Momentum, continues to increase access to mobility and improve the quality of life for children, teens, and adults with physical disabilities in more than 50 countries.
On Saturday, May 14, more than 300 people came together at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel to support Momentum Wheels for Humanity and show their collective solidarity for people with disabilities in Ukraine and around the world. The success of the event was in large part due to the continued support of sponsors, including Mary Looker, the Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation, David Vickter Foundation, TruConnect, SoundMind, Plintron, and many more listed on our website at momentum4humanity.org.
A highlight at the event was the presentation of the first “Mary M. Looker Service Award” presented to Koorosh Zartoshty by Jory Tremblay. Zartoshty is a long-time supporter and advocate for Momentum Wheels for Humanity. He is currently serving as the treasurer on the Momentum Wheels for Humanity Board of Directors. His passion for the organization has been his driving motivation as the event chair of the annual Wheels in Motion gala since the event’s inception in 2013 raising over $2 million. Zartoshty’s journey with the organization started 16 years ago when his friend Stefan Freeman asked him to join the Board of Directors. His initial engagement with the organization included an introduction to a little boy named Ishmael smiling in a new wheelchair. Zartoshty shared, “I fell in love with his smile. I fell in love with the idea that I could do something to inspire a smile like that.”
Three generations of the Looker family attended the gala. Mary Looker has supported Momentum Wheels for Humanity since it was a volunteer-led organization that collected used wheelchairs in the United States and provided them to those in need.
The evening’s special guests were Bahrul Fuad, his wife Ulfah, and daughter Ameera, who traveled from Indonesia to join the event. Bahrul received a wheelchair from Momentum Wheels for Humanity and used his mobility to further his education. Bahrul holds a master’s degree in humanitarian aid from the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and recently earned his Doctorate from the University of Indonesia in 2021. He now works as the Commissioner at KOMNAS PEREMPUAN INDONESIA (the National Commission on Violence against Women). “Mobility and access to the right mobility aid have changed my life,” stated Bahrul. “For me, a wheelchair is more than a mobility aid, it is a vehicle to liberation and freedom.”
Because of the generosity of its supporters, Momentum Wheels for Humanity has provided over 127,000 wheelchairs and other mobility aids, worth more than $44 million, impacting more than 500,000 people globally.