Anna’s Sweet Ride

I’ve been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks, but I wanted to sit down and write more than just a few sentences.

A few months ago I was visiting my friend Eden, who lives down the street from my house. She and her husband Mat had recently taken their 4 year-old daughter, Anna, to Shriner’s hospital to have her fitted for a wheelchair. The wheelchair she needed was expensive, and only a portion of it covered by insurance. A lightbulb went on. With sites like go fund me, I suggested she should start one to get the rest of it covered. Why not ask for a little help from the community? Eden’s eyes lit up when I mentioned it, and we started brainstorming.

The first thing on the list was to go out and take some pictures of their family for the gofundme page. Eden and Mat set up the page and nervously clicked “share” on Facebook. They were hopeful that we could at least raise $1500 out of the $5500 that they needed. Mat called me two days after he shared the initial post and left a voicemail that sounded like he said we had met the goal. I had to call him back to confirm, but within two days of posting a picture with Anna’s story, the family had met their goal. Even so, within the week donations continued to roll in.  A check would slip through the front door, another man from church would shake hands holding a $100 bill and say “Let us know if you need more”. It gave me chills hearing the stories of all the generosity that poured in from people in their community. Word had spread to their friend’s friends, their church, around town and of course online. All of this happened before I had even posted it or finished organizing the other parts of the fundraiser. It is incredible how much love and generosity is possible within a community.

I can’t say that I had much to do with the success of their fundraiser, other than giving them a nudge to start it, I’m certain that it came from all the positive energy and good karma they have invested into the people around them. They are wonderful people. This family still has a lot of medical bills and a wish list for Anna (such as a tricycle and they will eventually need a van to transport her wheelchair) so please donate if you can, and help spread the word!

Below is the original post (and you can still donate here): Go Fund Me ~ Anna’s New Ride