Family able to buy van

by Melissa Reurink; Chris Rosenblum

Joey Read no longer rides in discomfort. Read, a Union Township high school freshman who must use a wheelchair, used to put up with his family's aging, ill-equipped, unreliable van. Going anywhere meant a hassle - painful jostling from his chair strapped in, cold from the stuck driver's side window. And that was if nothing broke down.

His working mother needed, but couldn't afford, a new set of wheels. So last year, as described in this column, Joey's aunt set up a fund and organized a local fund-raising campaign.

The community came through.

With about $15,000 in donations, Joey's family recently bought a low-mileage, modified 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan from a State College family. St. Vincent de Paul gave roughly a third of the amount raised so that the van, which hadn't been used in two years, could be refurbished.

There's even enough left over to set aside a small sum for future repairs and maintenance.

Read's first trip was to the Nittany Mall with a friend for a haircut. Christy Wellar, the campaign's ringleader, said her nephew pronounced the drive "awesome."

She's grateful for the generosity shown him, and so are his parents, Susan and Joseph Read.

"Total strangers and anonymous donors, who we now consider our friends, have restored our faith in human nature," they wrote in a thank you to the community. "In a time with so many uncertainties, it is good to know that people are still good at heart."

Source: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/02/15/1793108/family-able-to-buy-van.html#ixzz0gHMr1W4b