Family seeks donations to purchase van to help transport disabled twins

A Toms River mother is asking for the community’s help to purchase a vehicle for her disabled children.

News 12 Staff

Apr 29, 2022, 2:53 AM

Updated 819 days ago

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A Toms River mother is asking for the community’s help to purchase a vehicle for her disabled children.
Marisa Maltese's 6-year-old twins Noah and Gabriel have spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and are in wheelchairs. Maltese says it's getting harder to transport them as they get older.
She says she looked into getting a modified van, to fit the two wheelchairs, but was quoted almost $90,000. She says the van is so greatly needed for her family.
"This is everywhere we go because even if we're driving somewhere…we get out of the car, we assemble the wheelchairs, we pick them up and put them in it. So having a wheelchair-accessible van, they stay in the chair and then they're able to just go right down the side of the ramp. There's no more lifting in and out except for when I have to change them,” Maltese says.
A GoFundMe campaign has already raised enough money for the family to put a deposit on the van. But the family will have to pay at least a down payment before they can start converting it.
A fundraiser will be held Sunday at Plaza 1 Mini Mall in Holiday City.


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