ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604120016
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
About $3,000 has been donated to a fund for Darrell Waugh Jr., a 5-year-old boy whose family asked for public help to buy a handicapped-accessible van.
"It's all very much appreciated. We're very pleased," said Kimberly Braine, a special education aid at Kipps Elementary School who is helping to coordinate the fund drive.
Darrell, born with cerebral palsy, is a popular, wheelchair-bound kindergartner. Transporting him to the various doctors and therapists he sees is increasingly difficult.
His mother, Drema Waugh, is a single parent who works part time and receives public benefits to feed her family. She borrows her father's car to get Darrell around and has to lift Darrell and his bulky wheelchair in and out of the back seat.
The family needs a larger vehicle, but lacks the resources to buy one. Two years ago another public fund drive bought Darrell his first wheelchair. Now friends have organized another effort.
Braine said people who learned about Darrell in a March 13 New River Current article have contributed large and small donations to a special account set up at the First National Bank. Some have arranged to have their accounts debited regularly to help out.
A Dublin resident has offered a chair lift for a used van, or a fully equipped handicapped-accessible van if enough money can be raised, Braine said.
The campaign for Darrell will continue. Braine plans to contact area businesses and service organizations on his behalf.
"We're halfway there," she said.
The address for the fund is: The Darrell Waugh Jr. Fund, First National Bank, 50 N. Franklin St., Christiansburg, Va. 24073. Contributions also may be made at the bank's branches in Blacksburg and Radford.
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