AARON CLAVERIE – Staff Writer TEMECULA —- A local charity that supports U.S.
soldiers and their families will be delivering an electric wheelchair to the naval hospital at Camp Pendleton. The charity, Temecula’s All From The Heart, received the electric wheelchair as a gift from Black Sheep Motorcycle Ministry, one of the local Christian motorcycle clubs. The wheelchair will be used at the hospital as a sort of “concierge chair” for whoever needs it, said Judy Harter-Nilson, one of the charity’s board members. Eventually, if there is an injured Marine who can make use of the wheelchair on a daily basis, the hospital will give it to that person, saving the Marine the hassle of getting the cost of a wheelchair reimbursed by the government, she said. “We’re saving the government money and retaining independence and freedom for an injured Marine,” Harter-Nilson said. In 2007, the charity teamed with Paradise Chevrolet to donate a modified Chevy Tahoe to a 25-year-old Iraq War veteran who had been severely injured by a roadside bomb. In addition to the sport utility vehicle, the veteran, Wally Fanene, was presented with a $7,500 check. For the charity’s board members, the wheelchair and the modified vehicle are physical examples of the type of assistance the charity wants to provide. In both cases, the donations of area residents were used to provide mobility, normalcy and freedom, which are often stripped away by debilitating injuries. “That’s part of our ministry,” Harter-Nilson said. One of the main fundraisers for All From The Heart is the annual Temecula Wine & Music Festival. This year’s festival, held earlier this month, again worked with the charity to help support the family members of area servicemembers. Last year’s festival helped the charity support more than 70 family members during the nonprofit organization’s annual Support Our Troops event in December. All proceeds from the festival’s silent and live auctions benefit All From The Heart. Some of the charity’s other board members include Rich Quaid of Quaid Harley Davidson in Temecula Tim Kuzelka, a personal injury attorney and Julie Kuzelka, an office administrator. The Kuzelkas said that the nonprofit organization’s mission has evolved in recent years to include making big-ticket donations such as the Tahoe and the wheelchair. “We wanted to do more to provide to our soldiers and families. It’s an appreciation, a thank you, for the sacrifices they make,” Julie Kuzelka said. All board members serve the charity as volunteers, meaning there are no overhead costs. All From The Heart was founded shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and this year’s Support Our Troops event will be the sixth annual. The event works by collecting shopping lists from local military families in need, which the charity then works from to provide Christmas gifts. Julie Kuzelka said the organization finds its beneficiaries in various ways. “We get the names through the articles that we read and the people that we come across in the community that need help,” she said. Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or . Escondido (760) 745-6611 207 East Penn. Ave. Escondido, CA 92025 Oceanside (760) 433-7333
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