Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080097
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
A deluge of donations has come into a special fund for the 6-year-old cerebral palsy victim since a newspaper story about him last week, said Peggy Long, who is managing the account at the First National Bank of Christiansburg.
Among the people who have responded are the local retired AT&T Telephone Pioneers of America, who agreed to donate a check for the full amount that Ricky needs - $1,200 for a larger and better-equipped wheelchair.
Ricky was stricken by cerebral palsy, a brain disorder that causes muscle impairment in young children, just after he was born. He can't talk and has limited use of his hands, but is a cheerful child, his mother and teacher say.
He needs 24-hour care, which means his mother, Wanda Smith, can't work. She must get by on little more than $600 in government support and food stamps each month. Smith believes Medicaid would take up to a year or longer to help, and she doesn't have the time, because doctors have told her Ricky may not live much longer.
So, with the help of Carol Hoge, Ricky's homebound teacher, Smith turned to her community for assistance.
And respond the community has, with dozens of checks from $10 to $250, as well as the donation from the retired AT&T workers, which they decided to make Friday, they day after they heard of Ricky's plight.
"This is the type of thing we do," said Ed Brownell of Christiansburg, the president of the local group. "We thought this was a worthy cause."
The retired telephone workers also have contributed to a trail for visually handicapped people in Bedford County, a retirement home in Pulaski and the United Way.
Smith said Monday she was surprised by the quick response and has a renewed appreciation for her neighbors.
"We may be a small town, but when stuff happens, we come together," she said.
"I think there's really a lot of people out there who want to give and who want to know what their money is going to do," said Joan Custer, chairwoman of the fund-raiser for the Christiansburg Jaycees, the group that sponsored the drive.
Smith said she and Ricky were in a local grocery store Thursday evening when someone approached them, saying she had seen their picture in that day's paper.
The response has been continuous since then, Long said. At least 68 deposits had been received at the bank as of Monday afternoon, totaling $2,061.
That figure does not include the contribution from the retired telephone workers, who will send their check directly to the Charlottesville maker of the wheelchair.
The extra money will be used to buy switches for toys and communications equipment for Ricky, who has a tracheal tube in his neck to help him breathe.
Leftover money will be donated to the Jaycees.
And everyone involved says donations are still welcome.
by CNB