To the Editor:

Helping Hands truly cares about the people in their community. They provide many necessities for people in need. I am a recent recipient of their generosity. They recently provided me with a $1,000 donation to a GoFundMe account. The GoFundMe was set up by a dear friend in hopes to help me purchase a used adaptive vehicle for me to gain independence to work, doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping, etc.

I wanted to personally thank Helping Hands for their extremely generous gift. In addition to providing the $1,000, the members of the organization have tried to help spread the word throughout the community regarding my need for accessible transportation and the GoFundMe.

I do not want to put the details of the GoFundMe in this letter because my intent is not to ask for funding. My intent is to thank a wonderful organization that is in our community and to bring awareness to all the hard work the organization members do to help others in need. I will forever be in awe of their support.

You may be wondering why I need an adaptive vehicle and why their support was such a big deal to me. I have Cerebral Palsy and utilize a power wheelchair to move about. It is nearly impossible for me to transfer into a vehicle and if I could my power wheelchair would not be able to go with me, further hindering my mobility.

I would love to return to work as an educator but that is not possible until I find accessible transportation. Helping Hands understands my need for independence. They generously provided me with some support to achieve my independence and, hopefully, soon return to teaching!

I have not achieved my goal of having accessible transportation yet, but Helping Hands has provided me with a start to having accessible transportation. Every success must start with some help in order to achieve success. I cannot wait to gain accessible transportation in the future and help “pay it forward” in my community as soon as possible. Thank you more than words can say to Helping Hands of Potsdam and their generous gift!

Pamela Charleson

Potsdam