It was April 15th, 2017 when I met my first Magic Wheelchair 'kiddo', and since then I've been hooked on the mission of building something that brings joy to a child and their family.
Magic Wheelchair is a non-profit organization that builds epic costumes for kiddos in wheelchairs - at no cost to families. They do this by pairing a volunteer group of makers with a child who has requested a costume. Through fundraising, teams cover the cost of the build and present the costume to the child and their family in an epic way.
I've had the privilege to work with an amazingly talented and passionate group of friends on 4 builds so far, and we've revealed the costumes at radical venues like a monster truck rally, and the Haunted Happenings parade in Salem, MA as well as at more intimate settings like the whimsical grounds outside a children's museum or the familiar grounds of the child's school.
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No matter what idea the child has for their costume or what their family would like for a reveal location, a Magic Wheelchair team does everything they can to make the overall experience for the child as epically memorable as possible.
We've just started our fifth build, and it's going to be amazing! We've been cranking away on modeling our kiddo's costume, and we've gotten to a point where I can design the frame that'll support all of its weight. Just as each costume is uniquely different, so is each corresponding frame.
This year, we're designing everything exclusively in xDesign, and we're trying to keep the frame as tight to the wheelchair as possible. Can you guess what the overall design will be?
As usual, I've cut the plywood pieces on a CNC router, and used a combination of dadoes and pocket screws to hold everything together.
That's all I'm going to share for now. We want to keep the rest of the design a surprise until reveal day! Be on the lookout for more details in early October!
