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It did take a village... to get a new handicap-accessible van for Aaron

Generous donations plus matching grant from Jett Foundation made this dream come true

Jodi Summit
Posted 2/3/21

TOWER- The Caravan had only 5,000 miles and was equipped with a side lift and modern safety features for a passenger in a wheelchair. It was just what the Raj family of Tower was looking for. And …

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It did take a village... to get a new handicap-accessible van for Aaron

Generous donations plus matching grant from Jett Foundation made this dream come true

Posted

TOWER- The Caravan had only 5,000 miles and was equipped with a side lift and modern safety features for a passenger in a wheelchair. It was just what the Raj family of Tower was looking for. And thanks to local donations and a dollar-for-dollar matching grant from the Jett Foundation, it is now safely parked in the Rajs’ garage.
The van is not only safer to drive than the 20-year-old model the family had been using to transport their 19-year-old son Aaron, who uses an electric wheelchair, but also has many more safety features for the passengers. Aaron really appreciates the secure tie-down system, as well as the adjustable seatbelt, which holds him and his chair securely in place during their travels. Everyone enjoys the better suspension, which is making travel, especially on bumpy winter roads, more pleasant.
“So many things fell in place for this to happen,” said Aaron’s mother Melanie Raj.
The first piece was raising the funds. The family had raised about $7,000 last fall by putting the word out to family and their community at St. Martin’s Catholic Church, but after an article in the Timberjay and a television news piece on WDIO, more funds started coming in, including one anonymous donor who had seen the story and offered to donate whatever else was needed to make the van purchase possible.
The van was not only low mileage and relatively new, but also came with a price tag of $37,000 that was almost $20,000 lower than older models they had been looking at. A family cousin in Wisconsin worked for someone who was selling the almost-new handicap-accessible van, and the Rajs received Jett Foundation approval for the purchase.Aaron’s father and grandparents drove to Wisconsin in early January and came back with the new van.
Aaron is keeping busy this winter. He has a four-day-a-week work-study job at the Mesabi East greenhouse (former Plagemann building) in Aurora and has been busy ordering seeds and starting to plant for the spring growing season. He is also learning to troubleshoot greenhouse equipment, deal with customer service personnel and help desks, and is learning a lot about plant propagation.