Church, community come together to present family with life-changing gift
As Easter approaches this Sunday, a Zanesfield area family is in awe of miracles they have witnessed this spring through the overwhelming generosity of their church congregation and community, who have provided a life-changing gift for them and their handicapped 20-year-old daughter.
“They have been the hands and feet of Jesus for us,” Cindy Deardurff said this week.
In October, Middleburg Community Church first established Leah’s Van Fund to begin raising funds for Cindy, her husband Vince and their daughter Leah, who has a rare genetic condition called Aicardi-Goutières syndrome, a type of leukodystrophy. Leah’s treatment requires frequent trips to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and other medical facilities in Columbus.
Previously, Cindy would lift Leah into her adult car seat in their former Honda Odyssey minivan, and then she would also have to lift Leah’s wheelchair into the vehicle when they’d go anywhere, even just a “quick trip” to the grocery store.
Between the loading and unloading process for a single trip to the store and back home, Cindy calculated that she was lifting about 880 pounds by the time they had completed their errand.
It also would involve almost a type of “gymnastics” to get Leah properly situated into her car seat, with her mother having to nearly tip her upside down, since Leah had previously had a spinal fusion and can’t bend her back very easily. This process wasn’t pleasant for Leah or Cindy, and sitting in the car seat wasn’t very comfortable for Leah either because she has issues with her hips.
So when the outreach team at the church approached Vince and Cindy last fall about starting a handicapped accessible van fund for Leah, the family was on board. They were about to order their daughter a new wheelchair and the timing was right to get the handicapped accessible van, since it was becoming a literal strain to load Leah into the older minivan.
Initially, the family thought the church’s van fund would be a contribution toward the overall total purchase of the van.
“We were so appreciative that the church members wanted to help out. We’re a smaller congregation, so we figured the church might raise several thousand dollars toward the purchase, which would have been amazing in and of itself,” said Cindy, who with her husband Vince have attended the Middleburg church since they were married there in 1993. Leah is the youngest of the couple’s four children.
However, their church family and the community showed up “in amazing ways” to support Leah’s Van Fund, which grew exponentially over the upcoming months.
“There was a simple insert in the bulletin about the fund each Sunday, beginning in October,” Cindy noted.
In addition, one of the church’s monthly community meals was designated to support Leah’s Van Fund, along with a recent chili cook-off as well.
Their Pastor Carolyn Christman recounted how the generous congregation and community
began to give to the fund beyond their wildest expectations.
“First, we had $5,000, then it was $15,000, and then it was $21,000 and it just continued to grow from there,” the pastor said.
Earlier this year, Cindy learned that MobilityWorks had a new van in stock that would meet their needs, and she went to the business to have paperwork drawn up for the potential purchase.
She received an invoice from the company that showed how much they would owe for the new vehicle — approximately $46,000. (Medicare would cover the additional cost of the handicap conversion at approximately $23,000).
The Zanesfield resident had recently heard that Leah’s Van Fund had around $20,000, so that’s what she was expecting when she dropped the invoice by the church office. However, Cindy said she was both dumbfounded and overwhelmed with joy when when she found out the new total of the van fund.
“I learned that they had raised over $46,000, with a recent $5,000 donation that had just come in,” she said.
“It was God’s miracle working,” Middleburg Community Church Pastor Carolyn Christman said. “He went far beyond what we even imagined. We feel very blessed that we could do this. It was an extravagant gift from God.”
March 19, the family received their brand new, fully-handicapped accessible Chrysler Voyager minivan, with their $46,000 portion fully funded by their church. In another miraculous moment, Cindy related that even receiving their Medicaid waiver for the purchase was a fast process — only taking 12 days, when it usually would take a number of months.
Loading Leah into the new van while still in her wheelchair is a smooth and easy process, her mother related, and watching her daughter’s reaction to riding in her new set of wheels has been priceless.
“When we first loaded her up and were on our way somewhere, I thought I’d have to pull over because I was crying. Leah had this look of happiness and contentment on her face that was so sweet,” Cindy said. “It has to be so much more comfortable riding in her wheelchair, which is fitted just for her. The difference in her demeanor was night and day.”
During the Middleburg Community Church service March 30, Vince and Cindy had the chance to thank their congregation for this amazing gift.
“Vince and I are still processing this gift; it’s so life-changing. We really can’t thank everybody enough who helped out. So many pieces just fell into place to make this happen,” Cindy said.
