I first learned about Magic Wheelchair at the inaugural Nation of Makers Conference in Santa Fe New Mexico in 2018. They pulled on the heartstrings of all in attendance and brought tears to my eyes as they described the work that they’re doing and the impact they’re having for kids that use a wheelchair for mobility. Read more about how they got started from “The Dude” himself.
That keynote presentation captured the hearts of several in attendance last year and when the conversation of what community projects we could do for this years NoMCON was discussed, building a Magic Wheelchair Costume was an easy choice.
We reached out to the team at Magic Wheelchair and they took care of lining up the recipient and putting our project lead in contact with her and her family. We were given the necessary information about the wheelchair and Amelia’s favorite shows and then we launched into build mode.
Expectations are high when you’re presenting a costume at a conference full of makers and like makers, we had lofty goals and had to trim some of theatrics out of the final design, but what remained was a really awesome costume that I’m proud to be a part of making.
If you want to get involved in a build in your area, apply to do so here: https://www.magicwheelchair.org/volunteers
And if you are someone or know someone (ages 5-17) that would like to receive a costume, you can sign up here: https://www.magicwheelchair.org/apply