Parents, tots turn out for Batavia benefit concert
It was a true community effort, with local Girl Scouts manning donation tables, teens helping paint flowery images on kids and a guy with a banjo keeping close to 500 parents and tots entertained.
All of this to help a little 10-year-old girl buy not just a wheelchair, but a chance at more independence.
"I'm overwhelmed by how many people are here who I don't even know," Susan Gagnon said Saturday morning outside the gym entrance to Rotolo Middle School in Batavia.
A parents club which Gagnon belongs to organized the children's concert. Proceeds will go to cover the roughly $75,000 cost of a motorized wheelchair and accessible van for Gagnon's 10-year-old daughter, Allie.
Allie has cerebral palsy, and is now wheeled around by family, aides and other students. Doctors recommended a motorized chair for Allie that would allow her to use a standing position and promote circulation in her legs. The chair would also help prevent muscle and bone deformities by letting her change position frequently.
While the family has medical insurance, the cost of the amenities isn't covered under their plan, Gagnon said.
"If you look at her face and see she wants this independence, you can't not get involved," said Cheryl Murphy, Susan Gagnon's friend and fellow member of the Tri-Cities Mothers of Twins and Triplets Club, which organized Saturday's event.
The group also relied on volunteer efforts of students from St. Charles North High School, who spent the morning painting the faces of children who attended Saturday's concert, and scouts from Allie's elementary school, H.C. Storm Elementary in Batavia, who helped man donation tables during the morning.
The group is also working on a spaghetti dinner fundraiser next month at a Batavia diner, as well as a 5K walk planned for April along the Fox River Trail.
"So many of our members stepped up wonderfully to pitch in on this cause," Murphy said.
For more information on the fundraisers or to make a donation, visit alliegagnon.org.