WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Volunteers at King's College are working like well-oiled machines to get these battery-powered cars ready for children with mobility limitations. The college's occupational therapy department just launched a local chapter of the national non-profit Go Baby Go.
"There is such a need in our community, and most communities and the closest chapters of Go Baby Go are in New York and Philly right now, so access-wise, it is difficult for kids in our community to be able to get the access they need," said Jennifer Dessoye, King's College.
"Right now, there is no powered mobility devices for children birth to seven years old if they are they are extremely expensive, or insurance doesn't approve them, so many of these kids are stuck in strollers or are dependent on their parents to move," said Erika Golik, Go Baby Go NEPA Chapter.
25 of these vehicles will now go home to families in our area, all at no cost to them.
One of those kids is six-year-old Stella from Shavertown; she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and an extremely rare genetic condition.
"Seeing her laughing and playing through all of this has been really heartwarming and honestly priceless," said Lindsey Sutton.
Stella took lap after lap, test-driving her new car.
Her mom Lindsey says with Stella's complex medical needs, her car features modified doors and a place for her backpack that holds her feeding tube just makes this work for her so she can go play with her brother or play with her friends, and it gives us a little break for us so we can hang back and be normal parents for once and not special needs parents all the time.
It takes about $250 to $500 just to modify each car for a child; occupational therapy students work with the families to determine what will help make for a smooth ride.
"So we add PVC pipe pool noodles foam kick boards to give them more support depending on what they need," said Golik.
Jennifer Dessoye is the chair of the occupational therapy department. She says the department couldn't do this without the expertise of the engineering students, "We come up with the reasons why kids may need adaptive mobility, then we go to our engineers and tell them what we need, and they create it, and they are so passionate about what they do."
To learn more about the NEPA Chapter of Go Baby Go, click here.