Hawthorn Woods couple donates van after reading Daily Herald story
When Gail Margarites read a story in the Daily Herald on Sept. 20 about an Elk Grove Village mother with four disabled children who is battling cancer, she immediately knew she wanted to give the family some support.
“I saw the article and wrote, huge, across the top, ‘We have to help this family,’ and I called my husband over and I said ‘What can we do? This family is just amazing,’” she said.
The Hawthorn Woods couple were unable to attend a successful fundraiser held in honor of Joan Evans last month, so they decided instead of donating money they would purchase a handicapped-accessible van for the family.
On Tuesday night, a spacious, gently used red Ford E150 van pulled up in the Evans driveway, a gift that was especially appreciated by the family’s 18-year-old triplets with cerebral palsy — including Meredith, who is wheelchair bound — and their 12-year-old son with autism.
Friends say the family was in need of a wheelchair-accessible van because their other two vehicles were becoming unreliable and Meredith needed to be squeezed into her old manual wheelchair to get transported on the days she has therapy after school.
“I really prayed about this and I just got this feeling like, you’ve got to help them with a van — and that’s where I went with it. And I’ve never done anything like this before, ever,” Gail said.
Meredith’s screams of excitement could be heard from outside the house before she got down a ramp in the family’s garage to see the van.
She had seen the vehicle once before, when a representative from MobileWorks, a wheelchair-accessible van provider, came to take measurements of her wheelchair. Joan said when the van drove off Meredith cried hysterically, and kept asking for it back.
“This is another blessing,” Joan said, adding that she is scheduled for her fourth chemotherapy treatment this week and has four more before starting radiation treatments. “Everything is a blessing. This is so beautiful.”
The van, which has about 73,000 miles, contains a lift with a ramp for Meredith’s wheelchair so she doesn’t have to be transferred into a seat by Joan or her father, Mark. It also has comfortable seating for five, allowing the entire family to travel together from now on.
Gail and her husband, Chris, were overwhelmed with the hugs, smiles, laughter and tears of happiness they shared with the family after gifting the van.
“There’s a saying, ‘To whom much is given, much is expected.’ So we’re always looking for, within reason, who we can help. It felt good,” said Chris, adding that he runs a charitable foundation with Gail and donates to both international and local causes. “Things like this humble you in a very good way.”