Wheelchair Charities A Superstar
by Mike Cohen

Steve Francis took a pass from Nick Van Exel on the wing and drove past Stephon Marbury for a thunderous highflying one-handed dunk. The Crowd at Madison Square Garden erupted with applause. Although all three players are superstars from different teams, this was not an NBA All-Star game. In fact, this contest took place in early September during the league’s off-season. This game wasn’t about a final score or even bragging rights for the winner. The event is an annual classic played for Wheelchair Charities Inc. to raise money for patients to have more comfortable lives at Coler-Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island.

“This is about helping out a needy cause,” said Van Exel, a 10-year veteran, recently traded to the Golden State Warriors. “Maybe those people in those wheelchairs could have been where we are today, so we are in a position to help. We should just be thankful ourselves.”

Wheelchair Charities Inc. began in 1973 when it raised roughly $4,000. Today, more than 30 years later the organization brings in over $1,000,000 annually. It’s no secret that success stems from leadership at the top. From its inception there has been only one man at the helm of Wheelchair Charities Inc.: Hank Carter, has been on a mission to help people ever since his best friend was left paralyzed from the waist down after being struck by a stray bullet on a New York City street.

“Their bodies may be broken down,” said Carter, 60, “but their minds are not. All we want to do is make everything better for them because God gave us so much.”

It is Carter who has given so much to Coler-Goldwater, a 2,016 bed Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility for patients with varying medical conditions that is part of the city’s Health and Hospitals Corp. Carter, a recent retiree from the Long Island Savings Bank, where he worked his way up from a teller to a senior executive vice president, has donated more than $10 million worth of equipment to the hospital. It is hard to find a spot in the hospital where Wheelchair Charity Inc.’s work is not visible. From a greenhouse for patients to soak in some nature to motorized wheelchairs, along with computers, an exercise room, communication equipment, and even buses, they have indeed improved the quality of people’s lives.

“It has provided us with the tools to better enhance our residence into the real world of work and technology,” said Jenny Rosario, head of the Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling Department, “Hank is just very dedicated to giving. You don’t hear about too many individuals who do this for an organization.”

Since wheelchairs alone can cost up to $36,000, the charismatic Carter organizes a benefit dinner annually, which he says is his major moneymaker. Each year the corporate sponsored dinner is filled with some of the biggest names in sports. Last year’s event included such luminaries as Warren Sapp from the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and basketball superstar Gary Patton from the Los Angeles Lakers, among others.

Wheelchair Charities Inc. is a lifestyle for Hank. It’s a 24-hour existence. Day or night he’s either talking to someone about his beloved organization or making plans for the next event. He goes to the hospital daily to just say hello to his many friends. “You see people smiling,” said Hank, “and then you say, ‘thank you God for putting us in a position that we can do that.’”#

Mike Cohen is the Director of Throw Back Sports, a program for children of all abilities.

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