Community buys van for disabled nine-year-old boy
Jan 18,2007 00:00
by
Lawrence Harris
Nine-year-old James Vaughn, is now riding the high road after Adair County residents rallied to help purchase a special needs van.
Vaughn has Cerebral Palsy along with other health problems requiring the use of medical equipment powered by electricity.
Bound to a wheelchair, Vaughn also uses a ventilator which required a van with a wheelchair lift, air conditioner, and power outlet.
The search for the much needed transportation began after Vaughn’s great uncle, Sam Lyons and his wife, Rachael, of Oklahoma, came for a visit and found that Vaughn's condition left him without any means of transportation.
The Lyons' began making phone calls and spreading the word of Vaughn’s mobility problems and Adair County residents quickly responded.
Peggy Lawson, Tracy Lewis, and Barbara Shepherd took on the project of purchasing a handicap van for Vaughn and set up the James Vaughn Charity Fund at First National Bank in Columbia.
Lawson, Lewis and Shepherd also scheduled a yard sale for Saturday, July 15th, at Trinity Church and raised $2200 toward the purchase of the van.
The yard sale proceeds along with monetary donations gave the James Vaughn Charity Fund at First National Bank a final balance of $11,000.
According to Vaughn’s grandmother, Edith Furkin of Columbia, Ron Wilkerson, of Edmonton, found a van that would be suitable for Vaughn’s transportation and installed the special equipment at a cost of $10,000.
“Ron did all of the conversions, which would have increased the cost of the van to $15,000, after he heard what the van was for. We could not have done it with out him,” stated Furkin.
According to Furkin the remaining $1000 left in the account went to taxes and transfer fees and a year’s worth of full coverage insurance.
James is the son of Tommy and Jennifer Vaughn and the grandson of Ronnie and Edith Furkin of Columbia.