A community-wide bottle drive in support of a Ladner family’s campaign for a wheelchair accessible van was a huge success.
Stephanie and Peter Hill-Davie held the fundraiser earlier this month at the Ladner Baptist Church. Their son Owen has a host of medical issues and through the support of a previous crowdfunding campaign and other community donations, the family was able to cover the cost of some renovations and equipment to make their home more accessible and improve Owen’s quality of life.
They now hope to raise more than $70,000 for the van.
Stephanie said she is just blown away by the support of the fundraiser, which netted a little over $5,000 in cash donations and bottle returns.
“Ace and Vicky, the owners at Ironwood Return-It, read Owen’s story after Peter went in to set up the account on the day of our drive,” said Stephanie. “The total for bottles returned is $2,904, however Ace and his Vicky contributed to bump up our total and handed me a cheque for $3,000.”
Total cash received during the bottle drive was $2,021, bringing the total to $5,021.
She said the response was overwhelming as many people stopped by to not only drop off donations, but also volunteered their time to sort.
“Local realtor Karin White came to drop off a bottle donation. She noticed that we really needed a hand and pitched in sorting and stayed until the end, literally sweeping the parking lot,” Stephanie recalled.
She said the Ladner Baptist Church opened its doors and made coffee while the farming community was there to help load and deliver bottles.
“It was amazing how many people came out,” Stephanie said. “We are so very thankful for their support.”
Readers can learn more about the family under the link Hope for Owen on Facebook.
You can also make a monetary donation at: www.youcaring.com by searching for Owen Hill-Davie.
