Donate to the drive – a bottle drive for Jack and Greg

Would you happen to have empty wine bottles, beer bottles, and/or beer cans? Are you looking to minimize clutter in the garage? Would you like to kindly support an inspiring young Stittsville boy?

If you said yes to any of these questions, then please read the following story.

Being a parent means doing everything you can for your kids. There is twice as much of a fight when your child has a disability or many disabilities.

Stittsville resident and father Gregory Brown knows this all too well. For years, he and his family have been struggling financially to help pay for medical supplies for his son Jack. He has been hosting fundraisers for the past couple of years to pay for all of Jack’s supplies.

Jack was born with CHARGE syndrome, which is a rare and life-limiting disorder that arises during early fetal development & affects multiple organ systems. Jack is tracheostomy dependent and has a feeding tube insertion. Jack is also deaf-with vision impairment.

He has had 20 surgeries to date (#21 coming soon). Jack has had numerous admissions to CHEO totaling over 2 years, and he also requires 24-hour nursing care. Jack was subsequently diagnosed with severe autism and continues to battle epilepsy…at one point over 100 visible seizures daily were common.

Jack requires around-the-clock nursing care. His mom hasn’t been able to work since Jack was born, as she is Jack’s primary nurse. And his dad is battling guarded, high-risk cancer. The family is without private insurance; the costs of little Jack’s life-sustaining medical supplies alone (tracheostomy & enteral feeding) are astronomical.

Before the pandemic, they were invited to attend 13 festivals and counting as an exhibitor for Rock Out 4 Jack. This was and is a revenue stream that the family depends on.

Gregory currently owes Jack’s medical supplier the amount of $1,000 dollars. Jack desperately needs these life-sustaining supplies.

Reaching out for help, Greg put an ad on Kiji about a charitable bottle drive for Jack. So far, he has received eight responses.

After posting on facebook on the Fairwinds Community, Stittsville Matters and Stittsville Neighbors pages, he was blown away by the responses. His heart was warmed and he felt overwhelmed by the mass number of comments he received.

The family can use all the help they can get. Please consider donating to this cause.

Those interested in helping the family may message Greg for more information at his email address gregorybrown@live.ca or his Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/greg.brown.7773.

As always, stay home, stay healthy and stay safe.