Family of 15 needs wheelchair lift

This holiday season, we are hoping to raise enough money for the Ryberg family to purchase a 15 passenger van with a wheelchair accessible lift (give $15 for 15).  Please take a moment to read more about this remarkable family:

Nate and his wife Lori were college sweethearts and have been married for over 33 years.  They have a large, beautiful, diverse family of THIRTEEN children.  Six of those kids are their biological children and seven children are adopted, including a pair of two-year-old boys that were adopted on National Adoption Day last month!  All seven adopted children (mostly all adults now) have special needs or medical issues and three of them are confined to wheelchairs.  Many of their children require continuous medical treatment and are hospitalized for days at a time.  In fact, one of their adult sons recently had surgery to replace a heart valve and will likely remain hospitalized through the holidays.

The Ryberg’s are a very close-knit and active family that currently rely on a used passenger van without a wheelchair lift to get around.  This poses two problems for the family – the first being that there are more family members then the van can accommodate, so the family cannot go places together without taking two vehicles or making two trips.  The second problem is that without a wheelchair lift, Nate has to lift his adult children in and out of the van and then put the chairs in separately.  This is physically taxing and time consuming, especially considering that Nate can now get his senior discount!  It is difficult for Lori to lift them herself, which makes it difficult to go places if Nate is at work or at the hospital with another child.  Recently, this has caused emotional stress for their wheelchair bound teenage daughter who has at times been unable to visit her brother in the hospital.

Nate has been a police officer in Arizona for over 27 years and Lori is a mom and part time teacher who provides around the clock care for their children.  Nate and Lori are kind, loving people who have opened their hearts and their home to foster children with medical issues and/or special needs for years.  Three have Spina Bifida, three have Down Syndrome and one with Cerebral Palsy.  They have adopted many of these children, providing them with a stable and loving family environment in which they not only thrive, but flourish.  Nate and Lori are very involved with all their children’s education, therapies, etc., and keep them active in sports/adaptive sports.  Many of their children compete in archery and track and field in the Paralympics and swimming in Special Olympics! They have competed all around the country.  Some of the other children are accomplished musicians playing the piano, violin and cello. Their young adult children have traveled to China, Haiti, Jordan and South Korea working with disabled orphans and teaching English.

Nate and Lori do so much for others and do not ask for anything.  This page was created in the hopes of raising enough money for a new wheelchair lift to be added onto their current vehicle.  This would be a blessing to the Ryberg family and would make their lives easier and less stressful.  A wheelchair accessible van would allow the family to travel together to church, the kids sporting events and music recitals, hospital visits and family outings without driving two vehicles.  The wheelchair lift would not only give the wheelchair bound kids more independence to get in and out in less time and with little to no help, it would also prevent Nate and Lori from having to physically lift them in and out of the car.  This holiday season, please consider a donation to make life a little easier for this wonderful family.

This page was created by Nate’s friends & co-workers (with his permission). 

All donations will go directly to the Ryberg family.  Thank you!!