Boy Gives Up Disney World For Hurricane Victims
cbs2chicago.com
(CBS) ROUND LAKE BEACH A suburban boy made an awfully big sacrifice for a kid. Instead of taking a dream vacation to Disney World, he convinced his family to use the money to bring supplies to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
They were busy loading the truck all day. Thursday night they will leave home in Round Lake Beach for a mission to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports on a ride, where the thrills and chills come at the end.
It was definitely one of my proudest moments as a mom,said Dianne Peters.
It was last Thursday after coming back from school that 11-year-old Mark Peters told his mom he wanted to help.
And I said, Why?, and he said, We need to help the hurricane people. And he said, Mom, they're dying. We need to do something, Dianne Peters said.
Over the last two years, the family saved more than $2,500 to take Mark to Disney World.
But the boy, who suffers from cerebral palsy, wants to use the money to personally deliver help to the hurricane victims in Mississippi.
When he came home from school and told my mom she called me immediately at work crying and told me and I was like okay, let's go, said Mark's sister, Heather Edwards.
I was not a bit surprised because, he's very handicapped physically as you can see, but mentally and emotionally he's not handicapped, said Markís grandfather, Gordon Williams.
People have been stopping all day to bring donations of all kinds, including money for gasoline.
I drove and I saw it, and I came and I asked questions. And it's because it's a private party taking it that I know it's really going to get to families, said Round Lake Beach resident Yolanda Krzak.
The family started collecting donations Wednesday morning, and so far they have about a third of the truck full. They hope they can fill it up completely by 9 p.m. Thursday when they will leave for Mississippi.
If you live in the Round Lake Beach area, the family is accepting donations and collecting supplies in a parking lot at a store at 460 West Rollins Road.
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