THE United Women for Special Children (UWSC), on Monday, donated $220,000 worth of Markell Orthopaedic footwear to the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre (PRRC) at Carmichael Street, Georgetown.

This is not the first time the United Women for Special Children has lent its support to the PRRC. This organisation had, for several years during the 1990s, collaborated with the PRRC to implement an envelope-making project for the youth of the PRRC Vocational Training Unit, students of which worked together to create salary envelopes for sale to those Government organisations/places of business in need of them.

Misses Jennifer Camacho and Ann Geer, members of the United Women for Special Children, handed over the shoes to the PRRC, and noted that the UWSC is always pleased to give to the less fortunate, and will continue to make donations to the PRRC.

Receiving the shoes on behalf of the PRRC, Rehab Officer, Cynthia Messay said the Centre always welcomes donations from organisations, and would always consider each donation a blessing.

The Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre offers the following services: physical, occupational and speech therapy; special education; special needs daycare; and manufacture of orthotics/prosthetics. The Centre is extremely grateful for the most recent donation from the UWSC.

Orthopaedic shoes are specialised footwear that provide the proper support and stabilisation to the feet of children with certain orthopaedic conditions or deformities, who have difficulty walking. Such shoes can greatly improve a child’s mobility, and are integral in their rehabilitation progress. However, due to their high cost, they must be imported; so many local children are unable to access them.

Fortunately for many local children with disabilities, it is quite evident that the United Women for Special Children and the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre will continue working to help them literally take one step further in their rehabilitation. (Gabreila Patram)