SACO — There were hundreds of them ”“ crutches, wheelchairs, walkers and canes ”“ all no longer needed by those who once owned them here, but sorely needed in Africa.

Local Rotary clubs have been collecting the gently used items for a year; and on Saturday, Rotary International District 7780 members, plus area high school and college students, gathered with the purpose of loading a 40-foot container truck, to send the items on their way to where they’re needed ”“ badly. In all, 3,407 pieces of equipment were loaded.

Dennis Robillard, of the Saco Bay Rotary Club, is the organizer of the program. He said he got involved because he hates to see good equipment go to waste.

“These (items) are something someone else can use,” said Robillard, looking around at the equipment stored in warehouse space donated by McAllister Machine at the Saco Industrial Park. “I don’t like to waste.”

The mission was appealing to Rotary as well ”“ Robillard said Rotary has been at the forefront of the fight against polio for many years.

The district Rotary clubs have been involved with the program since 2011. It was started in 2006 by David Talbot, a Denver, Colorado photographer who, along with his wife Candice, was working on a film production in Uganda the previous year.

Talbot, a polio survivor, said what brought home the need to him was a woman he saw while in Uganda. She, too, was a polio survivor, but her mobility was severely compromised, Talbot said. Someone had given her a tree branch for her to use as a crutch. It was that image, and some more, of men and women crawling on the ground or scooting around on their buttocks, the best they could, that prompted him to try and help.

Now, Talbot said on Saturday, Crutches 4 Africa is supported in 15 states, largely by Rotary clubs.

The first year the local Rotary district took on the project, 235 pairs of crutches were sent over seas. Now, well, it’s hard to say how much equipment is going ”“ except that it will fit a 40-foot container.

Honore Ndoli, who works for a Yarmouth insurance company, is a member of the Sunrise Rotary Club in Portland, where he lives. Originally of the eastern Congo, where he joined Rotary in 2004, he moved to the United States in 2010. He was pitching in to help on Saturday with the others. Ndoli said illness, like polio, has taken a toll in Africa, as have landmines in areas where there is unrest.

“The need is huge,” he said of the used medical equipment. “Talbot is doing is a tremendous job.”

“This is life changing over there,” said Robillard.

Lea Cobb, a member of the Interact Club at Old Orchard Beach High School, said she and her sister, Jenny, decided to volunteer after hearing about the program.

“It’s the first volunteer work I’ve done,” she said. “I like it.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.