Wilkinson family together for a family photo.
NORTH LOGAN – In just three weeks, three North Logan housewives and a Logan businessman went to work and raised $50,000 to help a family in their neighborhood buy a handicapped van to transport their 13-year-old boy around town.
Jamie Yonkers, Connie Whitesides and Julie Allen started off just baking and selling cookies to raise money to help their neighbors, Tyler and Krista Wilkinson, buy a van with a wheelchair lift for their son Max Wilkinson.
“Our goal now is $60,000, but we will keep going until we have a van in their garage,” said Nathan Larsen, who has never met the Wilkinson’s but got on board when he bought some of the cookies from the Allens. “We’ll keep going because we aren’t sure what the total cost will be.”
Max is a 13 year-old boy who has a rare congenital disorder that makes it difficult for him to move around on his own. He makes frequent trips to Primary Children’s Hospital that keep his parents and doctors busy.
He is the son of Tyler and Krista Wilkinson and Andy and Chelsee Young. As he grows, it will be harder for his mother to lift him in and out of the family vehicle.
“It has been amazing. We put it on social media and it exploded,” Allen said. “We had donations from across the country.”
“We had a couple of businesses that made large donations, then some businesses offered to match the donations and they made $23,000 in one day,” Allen said. “Chick-fil-A sponsored a night for the group and gave them 20-percent of the nights’ take.”
Tuesday, Dec. 17, McDonalds in Smithfield agreed to donate 20-percent of their sales between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
This Saturday, Dec. 14, there will be a “Wheels for Max” event at Spring Creek Middle School, located at 350 W. 100 N. in Providence. There will be booths for wrapping Christmas presents, hot cocoa and other activities beginning at 4 p.m. At 6 p.m., there will be a program with some music groups performing.
“We have been overwhelmed with the support we have received from the community,” Allen said. “It’s also been amazing to see the people and businesses that have donated.”
It’s been astonishing to see how generous people are around Christmastime, and in general, she said.
Tyler Wilkinson said the ladies who organized the fundraiser asked them to relax and not worry about it all.
“They said we have enough to deal with right now with Max’s health issues and our other boys,” he said. “We were asked not to get involved and get stressed out with all the things going on in our family.”