Millcreek Navy veteran and his wife need a mobility van. You can help provide it.
The group planning to build a veterans' village at Erie Sports Center in Summit Township has a new, more immediate project on their plate.
They're raising money to buy a specially equipped van for a Millcreek Township veteran.
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Jim Welka, of Belle Valley, served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years, specializing in electronics. He left the service with the rank of chief and served 20 more years in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Now 81, Welka is coping with a number of health issues, including congestive heart failure. His wife, Donna Welka, 78, has had a stroke and several spinal fusions. She has severe arthritis, fibromyalgia and chronic back pain.
Each uses a mobility scooter to get to doctors' appointments, the grocery store and for other errands.
"The scooters have to be taken apart and lifted into our van. It's a little rough," Jim Welka said.
"Until a few months ago, my father was able to lift their scooters into their vehicle. He just can't do that anymore," daughter Colleen Callahan said. "My father recently went through gout and renal failure. He has aneurysms and hernias that could rupture at any time and could be life threatening."
The couple could ride their scooters into a mobility van but can't afford to buy one, Callahan said.
"A used one costs about $50,000," she said.
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Callahan contacted Brian Gates for help. Gates, of Connecticut-based Bookwell Travel, is working with businesses and veterans to build the veterans' village at Erie Sports Center.
"This is something we can help them with," Gates said. "It's a way to give back to them."
Jim and Donna Welka both gave to their community before they were sidelined by health concerns.
Jim Welka was a volunteer firefighter with the Belle Valley Fire Department for decades and still does what he can around the station. He additionally has been a eucharistic minister at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church and an instructor in the adult education program at the Erie County Technical School.
Donna Welka worked as a nurse's aide, mostly with nuns at the Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse in Erie.
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How you can help
Gates plans to raise $47,000 to buy the couple a BraunAbility van from Palmiero Toyota in Meadville. The vans change people's lives, said Palmiero co-owner Brian Harrison.
"They mean a lot to everyone who gets one. They change the game immensely," Harrison said.
Donations for the mobility van can be made at projectfreedomvillages.com.
Bookwell Travel and Electronic Merchant Systems of Erie additionally will donate a portion of their proceeds from bookings and services for the van. Local businesses additionally will be asked to donate, Gates said.
The fund drive was launched Friday.
Also on Friday, a tractor-trailer load of solar panels for the veterans' village arrived at Erie Sports Center. The 250 panels were donated by Associated Energy Developers of Massachusetts, transported by Rhode Island-based Ocean State Job Lots and unloaded with a forklift provided by MH Equipment of Erie.
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie fundraiser aims to provide a mobility van for Millcreek veteran
