It’s become something of a tradition among Iola’s Rotarians to take their grandchildren on international mission trips.
Inspired by Bob Hawk and Judy Brigham and her late husband, Tom, Rotarians Jim and Karen Gilpin recently joined the bandwagon by taking their grandson to Mexico for a service project.
“We thought it’s a great way to motivate young people to realize the world is a big place and they have lots of opportunities,” Jim said.
On March 9-13 the Gilpin crew delivered wheelchairs to children in need in Mexico, part of a charity led by Chris Lewis, son of the movie and television icon Jerry Lewis.
The Gilpins invited their twin grandchildren, Nemo and Talulabel Gilpin as a way to celebrate their 23rd birthdays. The twins live in Oregon with their mother, Krista Dalrymple. Their dad, Stephen, lives in Gas.
Things didn’t quite go according to plan, though.
The twins flew to Los Angeles to meet up with Jim and Karen. From there, they planned to take a flight to Mexico but Talulabel couldn’t find her passport. They scrambled to find her a flight to Kansas City to spend time with family instead while Nemo and the others continued on with their flight. The airline found the passport while cleaning a plane and sent it to her two weeks later.
Meanwhile, Jim, Karen and Nemo arrived in La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur in Mexico. They met with 40 other Rotarians who were part of Rotary District 6110, based in Springdale, Ark. The district serves clubs in the four-state region of Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
The trip was coordinated by the American Wheelchair Foundation, a non-profit organization that delivers free wheelchairs to children, teens and adults throughout the world. Chris Lewis was inspired by watching and helping his father, Jerry Lewis, with an annual telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He helped create the wheelchair mission in 2000; since then, it has distributed more than 800,000 wheelchairs in 150 countries.
Rotary Clubs and Knights of Columbus organizations throughout the world contribute to the cause. Through the organization, they can purchase a wheelchair for just $150.
For this trip, participating Rotary Clubs purchased 80 wheelchairs. 
The first stop on the trip was the Children’s Rehabilitation Institute TeletonUSA (CRIT), which offers comprehensive rehabilitation services for children with neurological, muscular, and skeletal disabilities.
The Gilpins were impressed with the state-of-the-art facility and how it helps hundreds of children at no cost to families, with 22 facilities across the country. They compared the facility to similar projects by the Shriners Hospital for Children and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
They met with Chris Lewis and Noel Morris, Rotary district president from Springdale, Ark.
The second day, the group rode a bus around La Paz, delivering wheelchairs to eight homes.
