Honoring Those Who Give
 Soumitro Sen - TheUnion.com
go to original
| | Erik Zetterberg, a Grass Valley, CA real estate agent with an old prosthesis and a foot case boot, will take these items, along with many others, to Mexico, as he has done for the past 20 years. (The Union/John Hart) |
For 20 years, Erik Zetterberg of Grass Valley, CA has collected used and rejected prostheses from local prosthetic companies and distributed them for free among the disabled poor in Mexico.
Zetterberg, who's had a prosthetic right leg from the age of 7, said he gives away prosthetic limbs, canes and wheelchairs to the poor he meets each year driving to his time-share condominium in Puerto Vallarta.
Next month, the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Foundation is recognizing Zetterberg as the Humanitarian of the Year for his decades of social service.
"I couldn't see usable goods going to waste when people needed them," said 65-year-old Zetterberg matter-of-factly. "There was a need for these things in Mexico. I couldn't see them being thrown away in the garbage can."
Over the years, Zetterberg has received a larger variety of donations - clothes, toys, eye glasses - mainly from friends.
"It's rewarding for me to make other people happy," said Zetterberg, a real estate agent by profession. "I want to keep doing this as long as I can."
soumitros@theunion.com |
Vallarta Weddings
Vallarta Living | August 2007 
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us