84-year-old Navy veteran, and Ford retiree, Kenny Jary raised enough donations to fund a foundation to provide free scooters for other veterans in need.

Kenny Jary, who lives near St. Paul Minnesota is coping with terminal lung cancer and donors have once again flocked to a GoFundMe page intended to help him with medical, hospice and funeral expenses. 

As of a week ago, donors had contributed more to the fund called Help Patriotic Kenny Receive the Care He Deserves. 

Any funds not used for his care will be transferred to the Patriotic Kenny Foundation to purchase mobility scooters, according to an online post by Amanda Kline, Jary’s friend and neighbor who launched both donation drives.

Kline, who is vice president and executive director of the foundation, declined to be interviewed for this article, referring Stars and Stripes to information posted on Jary’s social media accounts. The foundation’s most recent federal income tax return indicates it spent $73,926 to provide 49 free scooters to veterans in 2024

Jary, who served aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Okinawa as a helicopter refueler in the early 1960s, has about 3 million followers on TikTok and almost a million on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/patriotickenny

https://www.patriotickenny.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@patriotickenny

https://www.youtube.com/@patriotickenny

Founded in 2007 by Marine Corps veteran Steve Danyluk, the Independence Fund's Trackchair program has aided over 2,700 wounded veterans

More than 2,700 all-terrain Track Chairs were delivered to double, triple and quadruple amputees, the Independence Fund has said. The initiative gave freedom back to wounded veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and even Vietnam, allowing them to hunt, fish and go off-road with their families.

Specialized all-terrain trackchairs are engineered to navigate challenging terrain including, snow, mud, and dirt, these mobility devices enable Veterans to reenter the outdoors and engage in the activities they enjoy.

https://independencefund.org/pages/mobility-program

I posted about this a couple years ago... I owe it a repeat https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-independence-fund-nonprofit-that.html

a fun mobility scooter revenge caper? I bet this is going to be hoot!

“Thelma”, an unlikely action-comedy starring June Squibb as a widow grandmother who becomes a phone scam victim

Thelma, a widow being looked after and checked in on by her slacker grandson, who is depressed at not being able to get anything like a proper job. 

When she is scammed out of $10,000 by a fraudster on the phone, tough Thelma sets out to track the bad guy down, riding a mobility scooter borrowed from her gentleman admirer – an excellent performance from the late Richard Roundtree(Shaft). Clark Gregg and Parker Posey are in it too! 

“Thelma” is already Magnolia’s highest-grossing narrative feature in the company’s 23-year history. Magnolia’s had no film gross more than $1 million since “Shoplifters” (2018/$3.3 million).

https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/jul/15/thelma-review-june-squibb-richard-roundtree#img-1

the engineers at Scewo ( pronounced Ski Whoa for some reason ) have made a very advanced wheelchair that can climb stairs, but it costs $50k

all you need at the first 25 seconds 

https://www.scewo.com/en/