Mark Hansen

Since he moved to Eugene in 1979, Winston native Mark Hansen has become an enthusiast for wheelchair sports and a valued supporter of Mobility International USA. "I played rugby in Eugene from '92 to '97," he notes. "There's no Eugene team any more, so I go to Sunday practices in Salem." Hansen still plays and coaches rugby during the six months he spends with his sister in Tucson He makes a circuit of tennis tournaments and coaches an promising young player in Eugene. MIUSA was founded in 1981 -- Hansen served on its board of directors from 1985 to 2000. For 20 years he has played host to a multitude of foreign visitors, including guests from Cambodia and Kyrgyztan currently here for the Women's Institute on Leadership and Disability. A few days ago, Hanson invited 25 friends to a "wrenching" BBQ -- a work party to assemble wheelchairs from a pile of parts and garage-sale finds. Twenty newly rebuilt chairs will be sent off with visitors from third world countries. "A lot of people are happy to bring a wheelchair back with them," says Hanson, who began restoring chairs in 2001. "It can be checked on the airline as baggage."