Alaina Derecola received her new van on Monday, June 22, a van purchased with monies donated by friends, family and strangers.
“We did it,” Anne Benfield cheered as the Derecolas family left the Mobility Works lot in Norristown in their new, wheelchair accessible van. Four months ago Benfield started a fund designed to get a new van for Alaina Derecola. Benfield emphasized the “we” in her statement noting that the community pulled together and raised the money needed to get the van in a short time period.
Alaina, her parents, Chris and LeAnn Derecola, and her brother, Dylan, were nothing but smiles while they waited for the van’s paperwork to be finished. LeAnn had tears of joy and gratitude streaming down her face as she accepted the keys to the new van and immediately started trying to thank everyone who made the van possible. “We are so grateful to everyone who contributed to this,” she said.
In February, almost on a whim, and after seeing the dire need, Benfield started a GoFundMe account to try to raise the minimum of $54,000 needed to buy Alaina a new wheelchair accessible van.
After the community heard about the need, other fundraisers were quickly organized. Alaina’s great aunt, Sr. Maria from St. Mathias School in New Jersey told her students about the project and they raised $7,000. A donation-only pancake/sausage breakfast as Butter Valley Golf Course, with about a week’s notice, brought in $7,000.
Alaina’s grandmother, Connie Baab, cooks at Butter Valley said: “I was cooking pancakes for four hours and we fried over 200 pounds of sausage. The crowd was amazing.”
Derecola’s church, St. John’s Lutheran Evangelical in Boyertown, held several fundraisers. Charles Haddad, who is on the church board then went and searched for other funding sources such as Freddie’s Footsteps at Children’s’ Hospital of Philadelphia.
LeAnn listed other groups that contributed or held fundraisers: Jessie’s Sunshine Fund in Boyertown, Colebrookdale Elementary, Boyertown Junior High East and West, Anytime Fitness, Pottstown Classic Car Show, Wicked Effects, MountainView Chapel, and Good Shepherd UCC.
Several donations included heartwarming notes to the Derecola family. LeAnn read one note from a nine-year-old: I’m sending $1010. I wanted to help because I could.
In April, when it looked like the funding for the $63,500 van was going to be realized, Alaina’s parents, Chris and LeAnn, met with Joe Monastero, Mobility Works consultant, to begin to determine Alaina’s needs.
It took Mobility Works about two months to convert the van to match the Derecola’s needs.
Tim Liebig, Mobility Works general manager, praised the efforts of Derecola’s and their fundraisers. Raising money for individuals with special needs requires looking at all possible venues and that’s what they did.
Alaina Derecola, 18, of Boyertown, was born premature. Developmentally, she is a two-year-old and speaks in two- or three-word sentences. She has cerebral palsy and doesn’t walk. She has epilepsy, severe visual impairment, chronic kidney disease, a feeding tube, pancreatitis and chronic pain. And that is just the start of the list of her infirmities. Because of these health issues she is confined to a wheelchair and needs to make weekly visits, sometimes more, to a doctor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. And because she is a tall girl at 5-feet 7-inches, moving her isn’t as simple as picking her up and putting her in a car.
And this is where the new van is a blessing. A ramp unfolds after the back door is lifted. The wheelchair can be pushed straight into the van and an easy lock on the bottom of the wheelchair snaps into the lock on the van’s floor. There are then a few belts that are easily snapped into place for a safe trip. The ease of movement for Alaina, plus the entertainment of the DVD, puts a smile on her face.
And Alaina’s smile is all the thanks anyone who contributed to the van fund needs, said one contributor.
There will be a dedication for the van presentation to Alaina and her family on Sunday, July 19, 2015 at the two church services at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 45 N. Reading Avenue. The sermon by Pastor Bob Machamer will focus on love, giving and community. The first service is at 8:00 a.m. and the second at 9:30 a.m. with refreshments served between the services and the van available for display. Everyone is invited to attend.
