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Unfortunately Buster still cant bowl worth a lick. WAIT TIMES FOR KNEE REPLACEMENT REDUCED BY 245 DAYS. Source: Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, 2011. Kevin Flynn, MPP www.kevinflynn.onmpp.ca | @kevinflynn2011 | 905-827-5141 406 SPEERS RD., OAKVILLE ACROSS FROM RONA LANSING 905-337-2066 w w w. c o b b l e s t o n e m b e r s . c a MASONRY & FIREPLACE DESIGN SPECIALISTS Hot summer deals! S t a r t i n g a t DENTURES $379 905-815-8208 LIMITED TIME OFFER $4 ea. 9 W ednesday, A ugust 24, 2011 O A KVILLE BEAVER w w w .insideH A LTO N .com By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF An Oakville mother is grateful beyond words to members of the local building community who have taken on a $75,000 home renovation, at no cost to her family, to make life a little easier for her son who has Cerebral Palsy. Sandra McGillivray said her family has been in a particularly difficult position over the last sev- eral years. Her son Spencer, 13, was born with Cerebral Palsy, a condition that causes physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement. This condition has meant his parents must carry him up and down a flight of stairs, from his bedroom and bathroom on the second floor of their home to the ground floor, multiple times every day. This was doable when Spencer was younger, however, as he has grown the task has become much more difficult. Spencer is 13 and a half now and of course he is going through growth spurt after growth spurt so getting him up and down the stairs has become very challenging for my husband and me, said Sandra. Its very hard on our backs and its hard on Spencer. To remedy this situation a large renovation needed to be done to the McGillivray home to create a bedroom and bathroom for Spencer on the ground floor. Money for this endeavor, how- ever, was not available as Sandra had to quit her job 10 years ago to look after Spencers constant needs, leaving her husband Glenn as the sole provider. Considerable expenses were also incurred treating Spencers sister Samantha, 9, who suffers from severe epilepsy. With no government funding available for such a renovation, Sandra wrote a letter to the Improving the Life of Children (ILC) Charitable Foundation ask- ing for help. While the foundation usually supports children dealing with chronic pain, ILC executive director Sandy Smeenk contacted Rob Ruso, of Ruso Developments Inc., who visited the McGillivray home. We were here like 15 minutes and we realized what was going on here in terms of the children and the family. We knew this family needed a lot of help, said Ruso. At that point, I rounded up some of my other contractors, got in touch with the ILC Foundation and we pulled a fundraiser together and put some money together. Also, weve gotten other contractors, f that I work with as a homebuilder, to donate a lot o materials and labour. Some of the companies Ruso has pulled into this project, who have contributed either fund- ing, materials or their time and expertise, include Taylor Somers, Beverage Time, Lafarge, Walls of Hope, Johns Concrete Forming Inc., Grand Blvd., Royal LePage, Cameron & Associates, Tarpin Lumber & Trusses, Mastro Electric Ltd., Hero Certified Burgers and QPrints Solutions. Renovations to the McGillivray home began in July with Sandra expecting another month or two to pass before they are com- pleted. When finished, Spencer will have a new bedroom, exercise room and bathroom on the ground floor (built out of a renovated family room) and an accessible deck. This will be a fantastic space for him. He will have enough room to maneuver his equipment around on his own, said Sandra. Hes very excited about all this. We went away this past weekend and he thought the room would be done when we got back. We were like, Sorry buddy. A stair lift will also be installed to give Spencer access to the basement (where the new family room will be located). The fact that so many people are willing to help her family by building these things is just completely overwhelming, Sandra said. My initial reaction was just, Wow, she said. These guys put their hardhats aside, they put their hearts in front and they came to help us where they can. Its just meant a great deal to our family. This is a renovation that is long overdue and there is no way we would be doing it right now if it wasnt for these guys stepping forward so we have a huge amount of gratitude for them all. Ruso, who continues to lead the project on his own time, said helping Sandra and her family was just something that had to be done. A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with throat cancer. I went through about a year of treatment and my life changed, he said. I just have more love for people now and I have less tolerance for things that are not going right. When I first walked into this house and I saw what was going on I just had to help. Ruso went on to say that even if he didnt have cancer he would have helped anyway because he said he hates seeing people fall- ing through the cracks of a system that cant help them. f Ruso said the project is still in need o around $10,000 in funding and anyone interested in helping can donate to the S. McGillivray in trust for Spencer account, which can be accessed at any TD Canada Trust. This is the beginning of a new chapter for us, said Sandra. Community chips in to build a room for Spencer FOR SPENCER: Sandra McGillivray (left) takes a break during renovations with contractor Robert Ruso, right, and Sera Mansueto, top. NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER