The Daily News
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Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 12:20 PM CDT
Charles Penny just wants to help make his buddy’s home wheelchair accessible. He’s been trying, unsuccessfully, for more than two years But that was in Athens, Ala., where Scott and Lolita Halsey live.
Penny believes the people of Bogalusa, where he lives, might be more inclined to show some heart.
“I put it in the paper in Alabama,” said Penny. “I tried CBS, ABC and the rest. I tried everything up there, and all I got was $51 from the preacher of a small church.”
Scott and Lolita Hasley
It’s going to cost a bit more than that to adapt the Halsey home to enable Lolita to do some basic things like get around her bathroom or reach her kitchen sink. She’s been confined to a wheelchair since January 2004 when she was lifting boxes of cosmetics at work and heard a pop, said Penny. The sound was her spine.
Scott has also had his share of physical problems, including an Air Force injury in the 1970s and a fall at work in 1989. And together the couple weathered the cancer death of their 29-year-old son about three years ago. Life has not been easy for them, and Penny wants to help provide some happiness or at least some relief.
He said he knows the people of Bogalusa recall the great kindness offered to them by strangers from outside Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. He hopes the people of his hometown community will pay that kindness forward.
Penny and Halsey have been close friends since 1988 when they were both members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. At that time, Penny lived in Alabama. He has since returned to Bogalusa, but the friendship remains strong.
Now Penny plans to sell 150 tickets at $100 apiece for the remodel project.
“We’re going to give $5,000 to the winner and that will leave $10,000 for the renovation,” he said. “Another one of our friends is a contractor, and he’ll donate the labor.”
Penny said he is not about to give up on his plan to help his friends.
To buy a ticket or for additional information, call him at (985) 515-1502.
http://www.gobogalusa.com/articles/2008/07/24/news/doc48876522b74ed752619851.txt
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