The Cal Poly student chapter of the Wheelchair Foundation will host an art-show fundraiser beginning Nov. 6 at the Art Center in San Luis Obispo. The show will feature photographs from the chapter’s trip to distribute wheelchairs in Peru last summer, and proceeds from photography sales will be devoted to donating wheelchairs to disabled residents of Oaxaca, Mexico.

• PHOTO BY NOELLE LUCHINO
• ON THE HIGH ROAD : The Cal Poly chapter of the Wheelchair Foundation gave mobility to 260 impaired Peruvians: next stop, Oaxaca.

The chapter raised $90,000 to purchase and personally distribute 260 wheelchairs in Peru.

The show, titled “Viva el Peru”, will premier with a reception on November 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. catered by Novo restaurant. There will be a slideshow of the chapter distributing wheelchairs in Lima, Cusco, and Puno, with photographs of spectacular Peruvian landscapes and the recipients. The photography of Cal Poly seniors Kori Savoie, Kali Bills, and Noelle Luchino will be highlighted.

“I credit the Wheelchair Foundation with helping me figure out the direction I want to take with regard to the style of photography I want to pursue,” said Luchino, an art and design senior and a foundation alumna. “This experience allowed me to document people’s genuine emotions, and has allowed me to realize just how much of an impact it has when you’re giving someone the gift of mobility.”

The art exhibit will run from November 6 to 23, and will be featured again at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly at the beginning of January. The Wheelchair Foundation’s goal is to raise $84,000 to send more than 520 wheelchairs to the disabled residents of Oaxaca, Mexico.

The Wheelchair Foundation is a nonprofit organization that’s leading an international effort to deliver wheelchairs to every adult, teen, and child who needs a wheelchair but cannot afford one. The Cal Poly chapter, which was founded in 2001, was the first student chapter of the foundation in the nation.

Intern Aaron Guadette compiled this week’s Strokes&Plugs. Send your business news to [email protected].