Annual fundraiser supports Cape Breton teen with special needs

An annual fundraiser is underway to help a special Cape Breton teen.

MacKayla McGean’s parents are once again collecting bottles in their community of Florence, N.S. to help pay for their daughter’s growing needs.

“You see how kind and generous so many people are. They look at the positive things in life, which we do too, cause things could be a lot worse,” says MacKayla’s mother Linda McGean. “We appreciate every day we have with MacKayla, cause on her good days, she does have a wicked sense of humour.”

MacKayla, 19, was born without eyes or eye sockets, she has a non-functioning pituitary gland, and recently underwent back surgery for scoliosis.

MacKayla requires two to three trips a month to the IWK in Halifax.

Linda says MacKayla has been having a hard time sleeping since her operation.

“She seems to be in a lot of pain,” says Linda. “I find MacKayla has gone downhill since her surgery.”

The bottle drive is the family’s main annual fundraiser, which brings in about $3,000 each year.

The family uses the money to cover travel expenses and other costs, like snow tires for their wheelchair-accessible van.

The McGeans say the bottle drive is heavily dependent on volunteers, especially for pickups.

“I love MacKayla, I’ve been with her since the day she was born. I’ll always do it. My back is sore right now, I can’t really go door-to-door like the last few years, but I will drive a truck,” says volunteer John ‘Frenchy’ Targett. “To know that you’re doing something for somebody who can’t do for themselves, it’s really uplifting.”

In past years the bottle drive was held in January, but has now been moved to November to avoid complications brought on by the weather.

“We found our volunteers, a lot were getting hurt sliding and slipping on the ice and a lot of vehicles were getting stuck,” says MacKayla’s dad Sheldon McGean.

Donations have already begun to come in, however much of the haul will arrive Saturday, the main drop off day.

Anyone looking to donate can drop off bottles at McGean’s Garage from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.