The Peace Bridge, at the request of the Make Lemon Aide Foundation, will be bathed in green lighting Saturday to mark National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day. Lauren Walier, 18, began the nonprofit foundation after she learned six years ago that there was little federal funding for a condition that she and 17 millions others have across the country. Walier and her family live outside Atlanta, but her parents, Sherry and Peter Walier, are Hamburg natives, and many of the foundations activities take place in Western New York. The Walier family looks to improve CP treatment in Buffalo using some of the proceeds raised in Run/Walk/Roll events in the region. This years fourth annual event will take place June 11 at Wilkeson Pointe at the Outer Harbor. For more information, visit makelemonaide.org. Also Saturday, the Niagara Falls Illumination Board will turn off the lights on the Horseshoe and American falls from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. to mark the World Wildlife Funds global Earth Hour initiative and help raise awareness and support for action on the issue of climate change. [RELATED STORY: The Make Lemon Aide Foundation hosts an annual fundraiser in the Southtowns] Read the rest here: Peace Bridge to go … Continue reading →

A young boy with a rare form of cerebral palsy is able to play with his friends at school for the first time thanks to a new powered wheelchair. Born prematurely at 35 weeks, Alfie Porter-Smith was diagnosed with a rare form of cerebral palsy at just nine-months-old. The condition left him floppy and unable to walk unaided. A lack of strength in his right hand also meant he struggled to use a manual wheelchair to power himself along. Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play Play now Watch this video again Video will play in Alfies parents Fiona and Rod, from Dinas Powys, had hoped to raise enough money to pay for advanced rehabilitation treatment and physiotherapy to improve his standard of living. What Alfie really wanted to be able to do was run around with his friends and keep up with their fun and games, Fiona said. The family heard about Designability, a national charity which provides life-changing assistive technologies to people with disabilities. They provided Alfie with a Wizzybug - a powered wheelchair designed especially for children under the age of five. The chair - which is operated by a simple control system - allows Alfie … Continue reading →

Comments(0) A fundraising campaign has been launched in aid of the family of a mum killed in the Westminster terror attack. Married mother-of-two Aysha Frade, 43, was among those killed when a car careered across Westminster Bridge on Wednesday (March 22) afternoon. Her story touched Shane Yerrell, 32, from Waltham Abbey, who has set up a Justgiving page in her memory. "I went to the scene to pay my respects," he said. "I read about Aysha, she was a mum on her way to pick up her kids that really got me. "No-one should have to be taken away from their children. "I was touched by her situation." Shane received a British Citizen award at Westminster just a couple of months ago, and noticed the contrast in the atmosphere, but still found people banding together in defiance of terrorism. "When something like this happens, people pull together," he added. READ MORE: Police say 'no specific threat' to county after London terror attack "It shows there's a lot of good people, far more than there are bad people." In just a couple of days, Shane's efforts have raised more than 400 towards a target of 1,000 for the family of Aysha, … Continue reading →