antiquity
02-19-2003, 01:36 PM
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Group offers to replace wheelchair
By JOE MATYAS, Free Press Reporter
Â*Haley Dunn won't be house- bound for long.
The 19-year-old Banting secondary school student, whose $3,000 custom-made wheelchair was stolen from outside her Emery Street home two days ago, is getting a new one.
The local branch of the Sunshine Foundation of Canada, known for sending handicapped children and teenagers on dream vacations, told Haley it will pay for a replacement chair.
"We want to turn a bad story into a good story," said Wayne Dunn (no relation), part of a seven-member committee that organizes the annual Sunshine Foundation Golf Classic fund-raising tournament.
"That's what the foundation is all about."
Dunn said the tournament raised $120,000 for the foundation last year and has some money left over from its operating budget, which it will direct toward the purchase of a new chair for Haley, who has muscular dystrophy.
"Our committee made a fast decision after we heard the news yesterday," he said.
Dunn said Sunshine officials expect to see Haley at a fund-raising appreciation event at Delta London Armouries tonight.
"We're expecting Haley to sing a song," he said.
The foundation sent Haley and her parents, Jeannie Dunn and John Smith, on a dream vacation last year to meet Richard Simmons, the exercise and and weight loss celebrity.
"We know Haley," said Wayne Dunn. "She's helped us and we're helping her."
Smith said Haley was "overwhelmed" with kind offers of help yesterday.
"All we hoped for was the return of the wheelchair but we were given a lot more than that," he said. "Londoners showed us their hearts."
Smith said the family heard from two companies that specialize in assistive devices for the handicapped.
He said both offered Haley a replacement wheelchair.
http://www.canoe.ca/LondonNews/lf.lf-02-19-0052.html
Group offers to replace wheelchair
By JOE MATYAS, Free Press Reporter
Â*Haley Dunn won't be house- bound for long.
The 19-year-old Banting secondary school student, whose $3,000 custom-made wheelchair was stolen from outside her Emery Street home two days ago, is getting a new one.
The local branch of the Sunshine Foundation of Canada, known for sending handicapped children and teenagers on dream vacations, told Haley it will pay for a replacement chair.
"We want to turn a bad story into a good story," said Wayne Dunn (no relation), part of a seven-member committee that organizes the annual Sunshine Foundation Golf Classic fund-raising tournament.
"That's what the foundation is all about."
Dunn said the tournament raised $120,000 for the foundation last year and has some money left over from its operating budget, which it will direct toward the purchase of a new chair for Haley, who has muscular dystrophy.
"Our committee made a fast decision after we heard the news yesterday," he said.
Dunn said Sunshine officials expect to see Haley at a fund-raising appreciation event at Delta London Armouries tonight.
"We're expecting Haley to sing a song," he said.
The foundation sent Haley and her parents, Jeannie Dunn and John Smith, on a dream vacation last year to meet Richard Simmons, the exercise and and weight loss celebrity.
"We know Haley," said Wayne Dunn. "She's helped us and we're helping her."
Smith said Haley was "overwhelmed" with kind offers of help yesterday.
"All we hoped for was the return of the wheelchair but we were given a lot more than that," he said. "Londoners showed us their hearts."
Smith said the family heard from two companies that specialize in assistive devices for the handicapped.
He said both offered Haley a replacement wheelchair.
http://www.canoe.ca/LondonNews/lf.lf-02-19-0052.html