Ella’s fund

We are organizing this fundraiser in order to raise funds for our 6 year old niece, Ella, and her family to help them purchase a new wheelchair accessible mini van.

Ella was born with a condition called Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum - which is the absence of the part of the brain that allows for the two halves to communicate with each other. She has what is considered a more severe case. Along with this, she suffers from epilepsy, low muscle tone, cerebral palsy, and scoliosis, among other issues. She is tube feeding dependent and is unable to communicate or get around on her own. She is extremely developmentally delayed and will always be dependent on others for her care. This includes being wheeled around in her super cool hot pink wheel chair or her awesome medical stroller.

As Ella is getting bigger and bigger (she will turn 7 years old this coming May!) she is beginning to outgrow her car seat and is becoming more difficult to lift in and out of the car for her Mom & Dad. Tom & Kim have been looking at purchasing a wheelchair van for a few years now, but even with help from the state of WI’s long term waiver program to pay for the conversion portion, accessible vans are extremely pricey and it will still be a large financial burden for them to purchase a vehicle that meets the requirements to be converted. However, they began to have issues with their current vehicle, and realized that instead of sticking a lot of money into an older car, now might be the time to pursue this avenue instead.

Besides being a reliable and safe form of transport, a wheelchair accessible van would allow for more opportunities for Ella and her family to get out into their community. They would no longer have to leave behind other pieces of Ella’s gear when they go on short day trips, as the wheelchair takes up most of the space they have. It would also make school drop offs and pick-ups much easier and safer for her Dad.

Tom & Kim do a great job raising Ella, along with her brother Zach, and they have to give up a lot in order to make sure that Ella’s needs are taken care of. Any donation you are able to make would greatly help their family, and if you are able to share their story, they would appreciate that as well! Thank you!