Mobility Programs

This is where Variety steps in...

Variety Kids on the Go! aims to help kids gain mobility, confidence, freedom, independence and the chance to join in the life of their community by providing funding for walkers, wheelchairs, specially-designed adaptive bikes, strollers, prosthetic limbs and other devices to families with the most need.

Kids On The Go - Program Application

December 9, 2008 was a special day for 9 year old Sean Logan, when Variety of Greater of Kansas City and Children's Mercy Hospital partnered and presented him with his very own wheels.

Sean was anxious to try it out and once he got into the seat it was hard to control his glee.

The halls of AMC Parkway 14 quickly became Sean's own personal speedway.

Although the day brought snow and ice, Sean was looking forward to nicer weather so that he could go outside and ride bikes with brothers Mathew and Alex.

The adaptive bicycle was specially made for Sean and can be adjusted as he grows so he can use it for many years to come.

On hand at the presentation were:

Back row: Variety Past-President, Greg Hogue; father, Shawn Logan; Variety Director & Mobility Chairperson, Linda Norfleet; Variety Executive Director, Nadine Mummaw; Variety Director, Sonny Gourley; Variety Treasurer, Victor Hammonds; Children's Mercy Hospital Social Worker Kelly Trowbridge and Children's Mercy Hospital Sr. Director of Development, Kathryn Harvel.

Front row: brother, Mathew Logan, mother, Misty Whiteley, brother Alex Logan and Sean Logan on the bike.

Twelve year old MIchael Siefkas was getting too heavy for mom, Sandra McGowen, to lift into her family vehicle.

A van with a wheelchair lift was desperately needed. Variety of Greater Kansas City answered her request on October 9, 2008.

Variety Mobility Chairperson, Linda Norfleet presented the family with the 1999 Chevy Van. Immediately Mom got Michael ready to go for his first ride. Ms.

McGowen is once again able to take her son, Michael on every day outings that others take for granted.

 A recent emergency trip to take her one-year old daughter Alayla to the hospital in the middle of the night and having to rely upon family, friends and neighbors for transportation left Stephanie Mroz feeling anxious and desparate.

Alayla suffers from a chronic lung disease brought on by Cystic Fibrosis and requires frequent trips to the hospital for treatments.

Stephanie heard about Variety's "Kids On The Go!" program that assists families in situations such as hers and in early August, 2008 sent in an application.

By the end of September, Variety of Greater Kansas City answered her request and gifted her a Ford Windstar.

Rewind to the summer of 2006...

The family was featured in a story in The Kansas City Star  newspaper about Willie & Gary Hough who are parents, adoptive parents and foster parents to several children with special needs.  

The loving couple had 12 children, 10 with medical disabilities, 3 of which were wheelchair bound.   Buried deep in the story was a short sentence, “Their van needs repairs and a wheel-chair lift they can’t afford.”  

The Variety Board read the story and called immediately to offer help, and within a month a new Braun wheelchair lift was installed in their van.  

Life got a little better for the Hough family.

Winter 2007...

During a call to the Hough household to see how all was doing, Variety learned that the family van had been totaled in a wreck.

Now they were without proper transportation for the children.

Willie was having a hard time getting the children to and from school and their many various doctor and therapy appointments, having to manually lift them into and strap them into their mini-van seats.

Again, the Variety Board wanted to do something … A Radiothon was in the works.

Variety was launching their new “Kids On The Go!” Mobility Program.

Thanks to the donations generated from the Radiothon, Variety purchased a Ford E-350 15-passenger coach and had the lift removed from the old van and installed into the new coach for the family.

The new van allows all three of the children in their wheelchairs and the entire family to be transported at the same time.

The completely outfitted van was presented to the Hough family at a special Presentation and Movie Party on May 26, 2007.

The call came into the Variety - Tent 8 office.

The young widowed mother of two on the line was in need of help. Her youngest son, Jenner, with multiple disabilities, has grown over the years and she no longer could handle the weight of loading him and his wheelchair into the family van to go anywhere.

Her eldest son although a strapping young man was a big help, but the teenager had school and sports that took most of his time and could not be there all the time.

Thus, Lisa Philpott and Jenner were relegated to sitting at home. Mrs. Phillpott desperately needed a wheelchair lift for her van which would enable her to single-handedly transport Jenner to and from his school, his sports activities (yes, Jenner played on a special needs t-ball team), with her to grocery shop or to visit friends and relatives ... everyday things that were becoming more and more difficult to do.

Could Variety - Tent 8 help? You bet!

The Variety Heart Committee took haste in reviewing the request, visited the Philpott home to evaluate the needs of the family, and unanimously voted to provide the financial assistance needed to purchase and install the coveted wheelchair lift.

On April 26, 2006, Variety Heart Chair Joyce Hager-VanHoosier and Nadine Mummaw visited the Philpotts and witnessed Jenner being lifted into the van using the newly installed lift.

Thanks to Variety - Tent 8, the family was able to go on a much looked-forward to out-of-state vacation, resting assured that Jenner and the entire family would be able to enjoy all the activities, together.