Wheels For Kelly

The fundraiser is the culmination of a community service initiative taken on by the Westerville North Girls' Lacrosse Club. When school started in the fall, Coach Richard Case got together with the returning players and said that he wanted to do some sort of community service. After brainstorming many very valid causes and needs, we decided to help the Hanlin family purchase a new wheelchair-lift-equipped van.

Their current van has well over 100,000 miles on it and has had several major repairs, and is in need of several more. It is important to note that the Hanlin never asked us to help them - we sought them out as being a cause that we could rally behind. As athletes, we have opportunities which, unfortunately, Kelly will never be able to personally experience and we thought this would e a very rewarding endeavor for all of us.

What makes this fundraising effort unique is that it is almost entirely student led. Five senior players (Casey Flynn, Monica Craigmile, Caitlin McKenzie, Sam Bahan, and Sam Powell) have served as co-chairpersons for all the events, and have donated well over a hundred hours each to this effort. It has been their show, so to speak, and they have exceeded all expectations.

Our initial goal was $5,000, and we had no real idea how we would raise that much money. However, after setting up several donation tables at North sporting events and sending out a letter to all Westerville City Schools staff, word spread and we soon had raised $6,500. When we hit the $8,000 mark, we decided that we would try to purchase the whole van for the Hanlins - a goal of $40,000.

Working toward that goal, we have run concessions at the Holiday Expo at North, talked to Westerville Rotary, the WCS School Board, and various other schools groups. We sent letters to all Westerville Chamber of Commerce businesses, and solicited for item donations at Polaris, Easton, Westerville Uptown, and many other places. The girls also put on a bowl-a-thon last month that raised about $10,000.

Currently, we stand at about $25,000, and we hope to reach our goal of $40,000 by the end of the night Saturday.