Salmon Arm Observer: Leavitt Machinery pulls the win at Kelowna's Haul for Hope
Leavitt Machinery in Kelowna is flying high today, Sept. 18, after winning the second annual Kelowna Haul for Hope in support of Hope Air.
The business was one of six teams to compete in pulling a 67,000-pound WestJet plane a distance of 75 metres as fast as possible.
Taking place at the KF Centre for Excellence, Hope Air welcomed participants with breakfast and listened to a family whose lives were changed with the help of the program.
Lee Drennen and Nicole Vink stood in front of the crowd with their son Sawyer to share the difference Hope Air has made in their lives.
Vink explained that Sawyer was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy that would require brain surgery, along with other diagnoses.
“For all the little appointments… they kept flying Nicole and Sawyer out,” Drennen said, adding that they were first introduced to the organization in 2018. “If they needed a hotel, Hope Air would cover hotel costs, travel vouchers for Uber, food vouchers from Uber… It took all the stress off of us so we could just focus on Sawyer’s recovery.”
“Before his surgery, going out and doing things in the community was very difficult. He was in school for one to four hours a day at max. Without the surgery, life was looking pretty grim,” Vink stated.
“We can’t thank Hope Air enough, because had it not been for that, we would have had to borrow money from family or go into debt,” Drennen added.
The business was one of six teams to compete in pulling a 67,000-pound WestJet plane a distance of 75 metres as fast as possible.
Taking place at the KF Centre for Excellence, Hope Air welcomed participants with breakfast and listened to a family whose lives were changed with the help of the program.
Lee Drennen and Nicole Vink stood in front of the crowd with their son Sawyer to share the difference Hope Air has made in their lives.
Vink explained that Sawyer was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy that would require brain surgery, along with other diagnoses.
“For all the little appointments… they kept flying Nicole and Sawyer out,” Drennen said, adding that they were first introduced to the organization in 2018. “If they needed a hotel, Hope Air would cover hotel costs, travel vouchers for Uber, food vouchers from Uber… It took all the stress off of us so we could just focus on Sawyer’s recovery.”
“Before his surgery, going out and doing things in the community was very difficult. He was in school for one to four hours a day at max. Without the surgery, life was looking pretty grim,” Vink stated.
“We can’t thank Hope Air enough, because had it not been for that, we would have had to borrow money from family or go into debt,” Drennen added.