Rockingham Times

The Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth issued the following announcement on October 26.

DISCLAIMER: The following content wasn't created by, but is being shared by the Chamber Collaborative.

PORTSMOUTH—Veterans Count Seacoast Chapter held its eighth annual event to benefit service members, veterans and their families in September 2021. The event took place on the tarmac at Pease International Tradeport, and was attended by nearly 700 guests, including the Thunderbird pilots and U.S. Special Ops Para Commandos who performed in the Thunder Over New Hampshire Airshow the following days.

The event raised more than $770,000 to support N.H. service members, veterans and their families including funds from many area sponsors, which included our Presenting Sponsor Service Credit Union, as well as Bangor Savings Bank, WLG Accounting, Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella, Two International Group, Wentworth Douglas Hospital, Granite Group Benefits, Sig Sauer. Herb Gillen Airshows, LLC, The Guyton Group, Newburyport Bank, Cambridge Trust Company, Novel Iron Works, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Q, LLC, Schrager Hampson Aviation Insurance Agency, People’s United Bank, Construction Services of NH, Air General, BankProv, Shafmaster Enterprises, Little Bay Lobster, Avery Insurance, Bank of NH, MTS Services, Reynolds HVAC, TF Moran, Atlantic Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, Seavey’s Marketplace, FedPoint, TD Bank, Haigh Farr, Middlesex Corporation, Kane Company, Piscataqua Savings Bank, Tuscan Brand and Jude Marquis.

Renee Plummer, a key organizer of the event, said, “After our hiatus last year because of Covid, this year’s event was even more meaningful — we are just thrilled with the outpouring of support we received. Having it on the eve on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 also gave us an opportunity to take time and be thankful for our freedoms – and to be grateful for our military heroes.”

In addition to important funds raised, the N.H.-based company Mobius Mobility was on-hand to demonstrate its life-changing wheelchair, the iBot, invented by Dean Kamen. Kamen himself was seen throughout the evening in the chair and provided a demonstration on stage of how the chair can climb stairs, and raise itself up to put the wheelchair user at eye-level with a person standing, also making it easy for a user to retrieve things from high places. Six iBots were sold to members of the audience who bid on the wheelchairs with the intention of improving the life of a NH veteran who will be medically approved to receive the donated iBot. Veterans Count will work in tandem with Mobius Mobility and the VA to determine the recipients of this medical device, based upon physicians prescribed recommendations.

Mobius Mobility recently toured the country and visited 25 VA spinal cord injury units to share the life-changing benefits of this New Hampshire based invention. The company donated one chair to each facility so the staff can be trained on how to use them and a second one to be donated to a veteran deemed medically appropriate by a physician at that facility.

Megan Yeigh, operations manager for Mobius, said, “The support for our nation’s veterans, and the recognition of the need for more advanced mobility technologies was overwhelming. We spent a few hours before the live auction at Veterans Count recent event, driving iBOTs through the crowd and everyone had a different story for how a veteran’s life could be improved through this technology, but the common question was “how could [I] help support this mission?” It was amazing to see the immense generosity and support for our veterans right here in New Hampshire, and it is an honor to be a local company that can partner with organizations like Veterans Count and deliver independence to our veterans.

Veterans Count is the philanthropic arm of Military & Veterans Services, which provides emergency assistance and services to our service members, veterans and their families. Ninety cents of every dollar raised for Veterans Count goes directly to supporting New Hampshire’s military members and their families.

Mobius Mobility, producers of the iBOT, allows those with mobility impairments to do the things many take for granted: having a conversation at eye level, going out onto a field for your kids’ game, heading down the beach to put your toes in the ocean, getting out in the backyard in the snow, or up a few steps into a family member’s home. Every person deserves to access the world around them, but the world isn’t as accessible as it should be. Until it is, Mobius Mobility will continue its mission to provide that access with the iBOT®.

CAPTION:  From left, Megan Yeigh, program manager, Mobius Mobility; Maureen Toohey- Toohey Law Group and Dean Kamen, president/CEO DEKA Research & Development Corp.

Original source can be found here.