NorCal SCI-Permobil Foundation award SmartDrive to San Franciscan paraplegic Glenn Arellanes

It’s finally time for us to take the wraps off the brand new SmartDrive MX2+ that the Permobil Foundation kindly donated to us last year as part of their support of our annual fundraising event, Inspire. And thanks to an overwhelming response to the contest that we held in December, asking participants to tell us why they should be awarded this device, we finally had to make the difficult decision of selecting that individual. It is our pleasure to announce that 64-year-old San Francisco resident, Glenn Arenalles, a paraplegic since 2011, is the lucky recipient. And given the infamous streets of the city, we think he’d make good use of his SmartDrive.

Glenn was an Entertainment Manager for a major Hotel on the island of Guam where he worked with 35 performers while managing teaching, designing, costuming all of their numbers. The job allowed Glenn to travel all around the Pacific/Asia area. “I was a goal-driven person with much energy and loved my job and the opportunities it provided me,” explains Glenn. He eventually left Guam and returned to his birthplace, San Francisco, soon following his diagnosis. “Where I currently live, the streets are very hilly and it’s difficult for me to get around on my own. I saw this device at the Abilities Expo and quickly added it to my wish list. I am forever grateful to both the Permobil Foundation and NorCal SCI for this opportunity.”

The SmartDrive will soon be delivered and installed on Glenn’s chair and we think he’s going to be getting around a lot more of San Francisco than he ever has. Glenn, we strongly suggest you stay off of Filbert Street, arguably the steepest street in San Francisco. SmartDrives are awesome but they may have met their match there. We are also grateful to the Permobil Foundation for their support of Glenn and NorCal SCI and would like to express our appreciation to the rest of the participants who shared some incredibly-compelling stories with us.