Thanks to the Warwick Veterans Services Organization (WVSO) McDermott Pool now has a new wheelchair to help disabled, elderly and any other patrons with issues of motion, access the pool. Councilwoman Camille Vella-Wilkinson and Tim Howe, president of the Rhode Island Military Organization (RIMO), which often works in union with the WVSO, explained that a constituent contacted them just before the holiday season that the prior wheelchair was not in good shape. Because McDermott pool offers a 50 percent discount to disabled veterans for pool use, both RIMO and the WVSO wanted to express their gratitude by providing the recreational center with a refurbished wheelchair. Thanks to a little “elbow grease and sweat equity” from John Hickey, a volunteer who offered to refurbish the wheelchair himself, the pool now has a new wheelchair. The wheelchair can be used by any patron in need, but Vella-Wilkinson said she knows of at least 12 disabled veterans who frequent McDermott Pool. Mayor Avedisian who accepted the wheelchair for the City and McDermott thanked RIMO, WVSO, Howe and Vella-Wilkinson for their commitment to the city. “Once again they have seen a need in our community and responded to it,” he said.