MICHAEL SCANNELL
Michael Geoffrion Scannell has never allowed cerebral palsy get in the way of his dreams — be it pursuing his love of music as a singer and musician, working as a DJ or behind the scenes at multiple radio stations, volunteering with numerous town organizations and committees, chasing down a good lead as a former reporter for the North Reading Transcript, or being a loving husband and father to two grown kids and their partners.
To make such a life possible as a wheelchair user who cherishes his independence in a town like North Reading that does not have access to public transit requires a reliable vehicle that he can drive. I can personally attest to the fact that Michael squeezed all the possible life he could out of his old Ford Taurus station wagon equipped with hand controls — a vehicle that Ford stopped manufacturing two decades ago! In addition to it being an aging vehicle it was no longer possible for Michael to manually break down his wheelchair and put it back to together again each time he got into and out of his Taurus.
Recently, Michael was fortunate enough to find a used handicapped accessible wheelchair van better suited to his needs as he enters his sixth decade, but it was financially out of reach. In his own words, reprinted below, Michael has launched a GoFundMe campaign to re-pay the relatives who selflessly put their dreams on hold earlier this summer so that he can maintain his independence. He is about $14,000 shy of reaching his goal. Those who are able to support Michael’s campaign to help him repay this remarkable gift may visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-regain-my-independence-with-an-accessible-van
HELP ME REGAIN MY INDEPENDENCE WITH AN ACCESSIBLE VAN
The problem? I was in desperate need of a handicapped accessible wheelchair van. Luckily, I found one! And now I need your help.
I am trying to raise the sum of $24,000 through this GoFundMe campaign.
Wheelchair vans are crazy expensive! The cost of a new one can start at $75,000 and go up from there, depending on your needs.
I was lucky enough to find a used one that was priced at just over $20,000. It needs some additional work, but it has almost everything I need. I simply didn’t have the finances to make it happen and was afraid I would lose it to someone who did. I was able to raise emergency funds through the generosity of two close relatives, and purchased the van.
But this was money that they were saving for a down payment on a house or a condo.
I’m sure you can understand my feelings: I do not want my needs to ruin their dreams.
Will you help me raise the funds now to pay them back for their generosity?
No matter what time of my life you know me from, you know that I’ve never let my cerebral palsy slow me down. It’s hard to explain the feeling of freedom that comes to a wheelchair user when they get their license and are able to drive. When my parents moved to Boxford, Massachusetts I was 14 years old, and I felt as though they had moved me to purgatory. Boxford is a beautiful, wooded town north of Boston, but it’s literally 45 minutes from any place a teenager would want to go, like the mall or the movies. When I got my license at 16 and a half, literally the first day I could legally obtain my license, I felt that surge of freedom!
For the next 45 years or so I maintained that freedom. Until the pandemic that is. As many of you know I had always broken down my manual wheelchair and put it in the car with me. I could do it in a matter of minutes, and did it several times a day. When Covid came along, like everyone, I was stuck at home and maybe only going out to the grocery store once a week. Over the course of the pandemic this inactivity snuck up on me. I got to a point where I had lost strength, range of motion and what little balance I had once possessed. Sorry to say, I can’t get myself and my chair in and out of my car by myself anymore.
It was clear to me that a wheelchair van was the only viable solution if I didn’t want to be a total shut-in. They say 60 is the new 40 but it certainly didn’t feel that way to me.
Thank goodness the opportunity to buy this van came along—and I had to act quickly! Now I need your help to give back to the ones who went above and beyond to make it happen for me.
The $24,000 goal is a combination of the purchase price and additional expenses and repairs as well as an attempt to cover the administrative costs of a GoFundMe account.
A dear friend of mine asked me when I told them about the situation, “Well, do you have 240 friends that would give you $100 each?” The answer is I don’t know. I do know that I have some good friends and people who love me. Maybe I have touched 500 lives of people that could afford a $50 contribution. I don’t know, but I have to try and give back as much money as I can through your donations.
So I’m reaching out to you, my dear friends. Please make a gift to my campaign. And please share this through social media with anyone you think who knows me that I’m not connected with on social media.
Maybe it’ll get to some of my old friends from Illinois that I went to Junior High with.
Maybe we know each other from Masconomet. Did we meet at the University of Hartford? Maybe you know me from WBMT, WFNX, WBCN, WGBH, Sound Investment Studios or any of the number of other places where I have worked over the years.
Maybe our paths have crossed sometime during my 25 years here in North Reading. Maybe you have read my stories in the North Reading Transcript. Perhaps we served on a Town committee together, or met at Rotary or through my involvement with NORCAM. You may know me through NRHS Music Boosters, or because you worked at one of the Martin’s Pond Halloween Fests that I MC’d for many years. Maybe we sing together in the Ipswich River Community Chorus, or you’ve seen me sit in with George Belli and the Retroactivists. Perhaps we’re neighbors.
There are thousands of ways you could know me or my family. If this message reaches you, please consider a donation! Whatever you can spare would be a huge help.
Thank you for your friendship and for all the ways you’ve supported me over the years. And thank you in advance for helping me to maintain my independence and my ability to stay connected to you and to my community. You’re the best!
