Family’s gift keeps on giving

At a time when selfishness too often makes headlines, it’s good to see people unselfishly helping one another.

A selfless act by a Prince Edward Island family, and instructions to carry that kindness forward, has given four families lasting memories with loved ones.

In 2017, Betty Pound of New Glasgow bought a used wheelchair van for $6,000. Having an accessible means to transport her husband, Allan, to errands and appointments was the practical reason. But the van also afforded the family moments of joy as Allan was able to go on adventures and regular father-daughter ice cream dates with the couple’s teen. He was even able to take part in a special moment that otherwise would have been impossible.

“I’ll never forget taking our daughter to her prom party,” Betty Pound told Saltwire Network this week.

With her husband’s chair buckled down, their daughter and her friends piled into the seats around him, Pound chauffeured the entourage to the festivities.

“If we hadn’t have had the van, that wouldn’t have been a memory for her,” Pound said.

When Allan died later that year, she decided to donate the van to another family who could use it.

Once again, the van opened up the possibility of happy memories for its new owners.

Donald Constable took possession of the vehicle in December 2017 and it took him and his wife, Candy, who began using a wheelchair after a stroke, around the coastal roads of P.E.I.

“She enjoyed it. We drove around quite a bit in her last few years,” Constable said, noting they particularly enjoyed stops at North Rustico harbour. “You could drive right down on the shore… She’d get her feet in the water then,” said Constable. “She enjoyed it as much as you can.”

When Candy died in March 2020, Constable knew it was time to pass the van along.

It went back to Betty Pound, whose acquaintance Ida Mccourt had been diagnosed with ALS. Back in possession of “the old van” again, Pound would transport Mccourt, her sister and friends for weekly road trips.

“We took her out to eat as long as she could go out to eat. We went on picnics, we picked up pizza, just stuff like that,” said Pound.

Recently, Pound and Mccourt’s sister found a new family to make memories with the van.

Pound wasn’t looking for recognition when she began the tradition of passing on the vehicle for free to someone who needed it, but it was an admirable gesture at a time she was grieving her husband and doubtless had expenses related to his care.

“You look at a $6,000 van and so far, it’s on its fourth person that it’s helping,” Pound said.

Those on the receiving end of Pound’s generosity have been given priceless moments worth so much more.