Disneyland Extraordinaire

Vote for Vanessa
I'd like to nominate my partner Vanessa for all the hard work she did in fundraising and organising, her special needs brother, Reece's dream-trip to Disneyland. Reece has multiple disabilities (autism, cerebral palsy, deaf and no peripheral vision) and it was with Vanessa's advice (after their mother was suspected of having cancer) we transition Reece (at the age of 27 years old) into Independent living. However, it was very hard for everyone involved because he could only concentrate on one thing at a time - a trip to Disneyland that he missed out on when he was 10 years old. Instead of repeatedly telling Reece when we win lotto, Vanessa decided to make her brother's dream come true and help him move on mentally, and grasp the idea of independent living and a semi-normal life. She created a website for Reece (http://www.reeceedge.info/) to help the community understand Reece's special needs and engage them in fundraising efforts to fulfil Reece's lifelong dream. Not only did she designed his website and other media (brochures, posters, email communications, paypal account, radio advertising, editorials in local community newspapers, etc), she imported Freeview Satellite Receivers and Digital Photo Frames for sale, where Reece would receive a big part of the profits. Nothing was too small for her, she helped do the Hangi's, BBQ's outside Bunning's, mail drops and little Trade shows. In less than 6 months, they had raised $20,000 to help fulfil Reece's dream. They had a bit of a shortfall (especially with the plummeting US dollar), that Vanessa gifted the remaining money to them. Vanessa's mother and partner left to take Reece to Disneyland on the 4th October and will be returning on the 28th October. Reece is so excited and thrilled he's finally at Disneyland, he even has to sleep with his Mickey Mouse ears on. She is an unsung hero, that without her, they never would have achieved his dream. Reece is now open to the fact of living by himself in supervised care. Thanks Honey, you're a star!