From the Papillion Times

Instead of just giving something up for Lent, Megan Zelfel decided to do a little something extra.

The 13-year-old organized a fundraiser to help her family raise money for a wheelchair accessible van to transport her older sister.


For the rest of Kelsey Stewart's great article in the Papillion Times, click here.

Helping Caitlyn

During Lent, one of our 7th grade students worked towards helping her family raise money for her sister, Caitlyn, who needs a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Caitlyn is sixteen years old and was born with Angelman Syndrome. Angelman Syndrome is a complex genetic disorder that primarily affects the nervous system. Characteristics of this condition include delayed development, intellectual disability, severe speech impairment, debilitating seizures, and problems with movement and balance. Angelman Syndrome requires life-long care. She has had numerous surgeries throughout her life. The most recent one was a spinal fusion. Since the spinal fusion surgery Caitlyn has not been able to walk anymore.

With Caitlyn not being able to walk, it makes it very difficult for the family to lift her, especially in and out of the car. That is why they need to get a wheel chair accessible vehicle. Their family and friends have organized fundraisers, but they still fell short of the goal. These vans are about $55,000.

Caitlyn's Aunt Linda found a non-profit organization willing to contribute two dollars for every dollar raised from this point on. Today St. Columbkille Catholic School had a Dress Down Day where for $1 or more, students can dress down instead of wearing their uniform with all the proceeds going directly to help Caitlyn's family purchase a van.

Caitlyn's sister wrote, "My family continues to work diligently to raise these funds by doing extra jobs and having fundraisers. As a single mother with a severely handicapped child, my mom does the best she can. God always provides us with what we need, but it can be a struggle sometimes. We just do not have a lot of extra to afford this type of vehicle on our own. Our goal is to get the wheel chair accessible vehicle by June."

So today Mrs. Redburn asked our student if she wanted to guess how much  she thought the school raised for her sister. She didn't. That's okay as she would have likely been low. The typical dress down days raise $300 or so, but today they raised

$6,500

When you calculate that $2 will be raised for every dollar from us, that's $19,500. Our school families have been very generous.

If you would like to contribute more to help Caitlyn and her family, donations can be made to “Ann Thompson for benefit of Caitlyn Thompson” at any Great Western Bank.