TABS FOR WHEELCHAIRS
LAILA
Laila is 13 years old and will be entering Grade 8 at École George McDowell in the Louis Riel School Division.
At the age of two, Laila was diagnosed with MLC1, which is a rare from of Leukodystrophy that affects her balance and mobility.
Laila loves cats, listening to K-Pop and in her free time likes to swim, attend theatre classes and play Volt Hockey. Most recently, with assistance from great instructors at The Hive, she started Bouldering, which is like rock climbing but without a harness.
Laila is excited to be the 2025 Tabs for Wheelchairs recipient. Her new power wheelchair will give her the independence and “Power” to challenge each and every day.
It will be our great pleasure to present Laila with her very own specialized power wheelchair in June 2025!
August 6, 2024
Hi Everyone, We are so very excited and happy to share these two wonderful announcements with you!
First, this past year has been the most successful year ever for Tabs for Wheelchairs, in both the collection of tabs as well as for the amount we received! We can never thank you enough for being a part of this program, as your continued dedication and support has made this possible! It is through your efforts that such positive differences have been made in the lives of so many young people in our province over the past 26 years!
A few weeks ago, we received a cheque from Western Scrap Metals for $10,142.34 for a total of 12,328 lbs. of aluminum and some miscellaneous metals. A total of 380 bags made up our wall of tabs at the assembly on June 19, when we presented Kyrie with her specialized wheelchair. We are so grateful, Western Scrap, for all that you do for us and have been doing right from the start! Thanks, as well, for your generous donation of $100! Also, a special thanks goes to all those who make the effort to take that trip to Western Scrap to donate your tabs, cans or metals of any kind! As you can see, it all adds up, no matter how small the amount you personally contribute!
Wesman Salvage in Brandon also partners with us and sends us a cheque every year. This year, $663.08 was raised from the tabs/miscellaneous metals brought to them and they generously matched that amount and sent us a cheque for $1326.16. Your continued participation is very, very much appreciated! Thank you!
Secondly, our 2025 Tabs for Wheelchairs’ recipient has finally been chosen and we are very pleased to announce that a lovely young lady, Laila, who attends École George McDowell in the Louis Riel School Division in Winnipeg, will be our poster child for this year! (Please see attachment). She has been an unbelievable driving force with the Tabs for Wheelchairs program at her school and has inspired countless others to start saving with us! Laila will receive her specialized power wheelchair on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
For the last six years, Tabs for Wheelchairs has been blessed by a very generous donor! This family wishes to continue keeping my son’s memory alive, as Anthony, who had Down syndrome, was my main bagger for all the tabs that came in for the first 19 years of the program! He passed away in June 2017 and because this is the 7th Anniversary of his passing, this family wishes to give seven specialized chairs in honor of Anthony’s dedication to the program. Thank you so very much for your continued support and honoring Anthony’s legacy.
When you read about Laila, our 2025 recipient, you will see that she is involved in Volt Hockey. I am sure most of you are asking yourself, “What is Volt Hockey?”. It is an adaptive sports program designed to make hockey accessible to all individuals with a physical or intellectual disability from the ages of 10 -18. It is new to Manitoba, as of the beginning of this year, and is played out of Dakota Community Centre Fieldhouse in Winnipeg. Presently, they have six teams with three players on each team. Not only do players develop Volt Hockey skills but also get the opportunity to make new friends and learn how to play a team sport. This coming year, Variety Manitoba hopes to double the number of players participating recreationally and participate in regional, national and even possibly international tournaments. Volt Hockey has actually been around for 10 years in the Toronto area and for five years in four cities in Alberta. You will meet Laila and her parents and hear more about the program when you click on the following link below.
After learning about this exciting initiative, we are delighted to have the opportunity to give the seven specialized chairs, gifted by our anonymous donor, towards the Volt Hockey program.
Here is more information about Volt Hockey: https://youtu.be/JgMthW2XgAA
In closing, we wish to thank you once again for being such steadfast supporters of the program and for making Tabs for Wheelchairs the tremendous success it is today! At present, we have now given 61 specialized wheelchairs and plan to keep going strong in the years to come, thanks to all of you!
Sincerely, Gwen Buccini Mrs. Catherine Walker
Tabs for Wheelchairs Coordinator Principal