Dan Gallo, a local heavy-duty mechanic and competitive arm wrestler, made a $5,000 cash donation to the Child Development Centre (CDC) this morning.
He said he was inspired by his wife, Sadie, who works for the CDC.
“I have been thinking about it for quite a while now, and I am in a position where I can… She brags about this place quite a bit, it is huge,” he told media this morning.
Darrell Roze, the CDC’s Executive Director, said the donation will go a long way towards helping purchase new equipment.
“The majority of the money we get from the province goes into paying for our professionals that help the children,” he explained. “The money we are able to raise and get donated to us goes into our specialized equipment.”
At this point, Roze said they do not have a specific plan for the money – but that equipment is more expensive than what one might think.
“Things that you would expect, you look at it and think ‘maybe this will be $2,000,’ and it is $6,000,” he said, adding donations for equipment like this can help save parents those costs multiple times over, in the case of wheelchairs and other items that need to be replaced every couple of years when a child gets a little bigger.
Roze said the Prince George CDC supports about 1,000 kids with special needs or developmental delays every year.
For more information, or to make a donation, click here.