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By Douglas McCulloch
Hometown Weekly Staff
Members of the Deerfield School community recently came together to help a Deerfield fourth grader in need.
Emma Charland, a Deerfield fourth grader who has been going to the school since kindergarten through the school’s integration program, requires the use of a wheelchair. As she continues to grow older, her family knew she would need a new wheelchair-accessible minivan because of the difficulties of transporting her in a non-handicapped car.
Tracie Charland, Emma’s mother, estimated that the new minivan and a conversation to a wheelchair-accessible model would cost $22,000. She was able to fund $15,000 of the minivan through Bella’s Angels, a non-profit organization that helps provide resources for families of children with disabilities, but was struggling to come up with the final $7,000.
That’s when Charland had an idea. Emma was already well known to Deerfield students and parents, so she reached out to Deerfield parents to see if they could help raise the additional $7,000. Deerfield principal Joshua Baumer sent out an email to parents asking for their support, which was soon picked up by the Deerfield PTO.
The Deerfield PTO, spearheaded by secretary Anne Fortune, decided to give the Deerfield community a challenge. If the parents could raise $1,000, the PTO would match that with a donation of their own.
Between January 27 and February 5, Deerfield parents and the Deerfield PTO had exceeded the $7,000 mark, and had raised over $10,000 for Emma.
“In terms of fundraising they just blew that number away,” Charland said. “It was amazing to see so many people came through to rally behind Emma.”
Charland was especially impressed with how many parents decided to step up and help. While most parents donated modest amounts, several families made donations of $100 and $500, and one family made an anonymous donation of $1,000.
Deerfield School principal Joshua Baumer noted that the success of the fundraiser is a testament to how connected the small school community is to each other.
“All of the students, teachers and parents by and large know each other,” Baumer said. “We really work together as a community to support each other.”
Deerfield PTO secretary Anne Fortune was impressed with how successful the fundraiser was.
“It was a really amazing feeling,” Fortune said. “It was wonderful to know our school community stepped up to support a family in need.”
The extra money raised through the fundraiser will help offset any additional costs associated with the handicap conversion.
