Many of you know the story of my friend Donna Bell, a quadriplegic artist with the simple dream of being able to visit New Orleans in her lifetime.  This trip and the even more humble goal of being able to do anything outside of her home depends upon Donna getting a good handicapped-accessible van. We are proud to announce that, as of January 2014, the good people at gofundme have agreed to help Donna organize this fundraising effort, including the actual purchase and delivery of the van. Please make note of our new web site at www.FreedomForDonna.org. Come visit today, learn more about Donna’s dream and help us get the numbers needed to make that dream a reality.

Donna was in a tragic car accident on June 28th 1979 leaving her a C-3 C-4 quadriplegic. She was only 15 at the time of the wreck which broke her neck leaving her unable to move from the shoulders down for the past 34 years. Doctors told her she would never walk again.

It wasn’t until age 21, six years after the accident that a talent emerged where there was once none. “Before the accident, I always wanted to draw but I couldn’t even trace well with my hands. This is a true gift.”, said Donna. She has had no formal art training yet now draws and crochets using only her mouth. Donna has a collection of her artwork on her  if you would like to see it.

Donna has never had a power wheelchair, nor a Custom Handicapped Van with a lift, required to transport a heavy chair like that in the 34 years since her accident. For 34 years, her family has had to lift her in and out of standard vehicles.

What now for Donna? In time with the spreading of her story and helping to raise awareness of not only her disability but many others, she will be in a new custom van and power wheelchair which will help her and her family tremendously.

To help with the cost of these and other uninsured medical expenses, a fundraising campaign in Donna’s honor has been established with gofundme. The company was founded in May 2010 by Brad Damphousse and Andrew Ballester. Both had previously founded Paygr which is a website dedicated to allowing members to sell their services to the public. Damphousse and Ballester originally created the website under the name “CreateAFund” in 2008 but later changed the name to GoFundMe after making numerous upgrades to the features of the website.

GoFundMe allows users to create their own website to describe what they are raising money for. During this process, members can enter the fundraising cause, the amount they hope to raise, and even upload photos or video. Once the website is created, GoFundMe allows users to share their project with people through integrated social network links (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and email. People can then donate to a user’s cause through the website and track the progress of their funding. Those who donate can also leave comments on the website in support of the project. GoFundMe generates revenue by automatically deducting a 5% transaction fee from each donation a user receives. If the user receives no donations, then no charge is made.

GoFundMe is unique to crowdfunding in that they are not an incentive-based crowdfunding website. Although they do allow projects that are meant to fund other projects for musicians, inventors, etc., the business model is set up to allow for donations to personal causes and life events such as medical bills. GoFundMe also has a special section dedicated solely to users who are trying to raise money to cover their tuition costs. One of the most notable tuition projects involved helping a user raise $25,000 to pay out of state tuition to a PhD program after that user was selected among 125 applicants into that program.

Please consider helping Donna realize this dream and improving her quality of life by joining our “Freedom For Donna” cause and contributing to her gofundme fundraising campaign? Your donation is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day and be inspired!