An Atlanta charity group has received a donated forklift worth USD14,000 to help it deliver wheelchairs to disabled people.

The Gwinnett Daily Post newspaper reported Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC), in Stone Mountain, Atlanta, received a forklift, custom-painted with a mural of Santa Claus, from Eagle Rock Distributing Co and local Hyster forklift distributor Barloworld.

The forklift was originally intended for a trade-in but Eagle Rock executives decided to donate it to FODAC. Barloworld helped by refurbishing the forklift and adding the mural.

FODAC was established in 1986 to provide medical equipment to disabled people in the metro Atlanta area who could not afford it.

More than 11,000 wheelchairs and 3,000 hospital beds have been distributed by the group over the past 10 years.