OCR Text |
Show Thursday, October 23, 2008 Page 8 AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Habitat for Humanity seeks votes to win $250,000 Caleb Warriock DAILY HERALD Hoping for a huge payday of its own, Habitat for Humanity of Utah County is encouraging Utah Valley residents to help an Orem family win $100,000. Habitat stands to win $250,000 of its own, half of which would go to the local chapter enough to build an entire Habitat house. The story starts in August 2005 when Danny Gibbons decided to leave what was then Utah Valley State College. He packed everything he owned and headed for Arizona State University, but on the way, during a heavy storm, he hydroplaned. hy-droplaned. "The accident caved the driver's side door to the middle of the car," he said. Gibbons broke his pelvis in several places and broke his femur, and he spent nearly a month in an Arizona hospital. It was nine months before he could walk again. In the hospital, he had a lot of time to think, and decided to drop accounting to become a physical therapist. He returned to UVU, where he will graduate gradu-ate this spring. Earlier this year, Gibbons opened the mail one day to find an announcement in a bank statement from Wells Fargo. "It said tell us about your someday dream and you could be $ 100,000 richer," Gibbons said. Bored because his wife was napping, Gibbons jotted down a 250-word essay about his accident ac-cident and his new dream to go to graduate school to become a physical therapist. He sent his essay and forgot about it. Not long after, it started raining money. "It must have been two months later that I got a FedEx envelope that said we had been chosen as a top 12 finalist," he said. "We received a check for $1,000." "We had totally forgotten about it and didn't expect anything any-thing at all," said Tif fani Gibbons, Gib-bons, Danny's wife. "We had $1,000 in our pocket; pock-et; that was as helpful as could be," Danny Gibbons said. Another month or two went by and then a call came while the couple were driving to shop for their soon-to-be-born first child. "I pulled the car over," Danny Dan-ny Gibbons said. "They told us we had won $10,000." "That was so cool," his wife said. "We were screaming and hugging each other," Danny Betty Perry's dry lawn is seen July 6, 2007. orem pleasant , grove alpine -. rni!:!t Li vi U i I WWW ! Vl4WIUUkV W irtrr rl I M W 1 f 14 ... j 71 4 . A. Danny Gibbons sits for a portrait of winning $100,000 from Wells Danny's essay, hear more of his Gibbons said. The couple said they have used their winnings to pay down student loans, but have $40,000 in loans left. If they win the grand prize, they would pay off their student loans and pay graduate school tuition. The couple's first child is due on Monday, and the money will be a boon for that, too. Out of more than 10,000 entries, en-tries, Gibbons's is one of five finalists in the national contest, and the only finalist from Utah, said Mark Chapman of Wells Fargo. The final winner, to be announced in November, will be chosen by votes on the company's com-pany's Web site, wellsf argo. comsomedaystories. This is where Habitat for Humanity comes into the story. In addition to giving the essay es-say winner $100,000, Wells Fargo is giving $250,000 to one of three charities chosen by voters on the Web site. JEREMY HARMONDaily Herald at her home in Orem on Friday, Sometimes, saving hfln. Whprrw vni i'rp r ' w 3 " -""K'V. juviuya account, a CD, an IRA, or automatic transfers from VOIXIIXXLI IlltV checking to savings, we have the savinas vehicles -r 1 V for every need. Call I r "" x f J 0- ' " i ; I .... '5 , s , ..." . . ' v - XT'- with his wife Tiffani in their Orem home on Wednesday, October 15, 2008. Danny is one of five Fargo. If he wins Danny would use the money to pay for his continued education in the field of story and vote at www.wellsfargo.comsomedaystories One of those is .Habitat, and the national organization has agreed to split the winnings with the Utah County organization organi-zation if enough local people, using the 84058 zip code, vote to make Habitat the winner. Voters are required to give a zip code when voting to help track where votes come from. Half of the $250,000 prize would be enough to build an entire Habitat house in Utah Valley, and because of that, Habitat has launched a campaign cam-paign to get all local residents to vote for both Gibbons and Habitat. Real-time voting results are displayed on the Wells Fargo Web site and as of Wednesday Wednes-day afternoon Danny had a slight edge over the other four contestants, while Habitat for Humanity was in second place to win the charity money, with one percent fewer votes than the leader. "It's a rare opportunity to Lawn Lady's home Joe Pyrah DAILY HERALD Sure, "it looks a little like heck on the outside," but prospective pro-spective buyers should know that the inside of the Lawn Lady's house is actually cute. The pictures on the real estate listing for the interior of Betty Perry's former house on 800 East in Orem do indeed show a tidy home. Perry has left the state, and her home is now on the market for $155,000. Perry, 70, grabbed international interna-tional headlines when she was arrested last year after an officer of-ficer with the Orem police department's de-partment's Neighborhood Pres- Save for money isnt easy. We can Innkinn fnr a cimnla c3l 222-9006. make this much, and to be able to build a whole house from one donation," said Kena Jo Mathews of Habitat for Humanity Hu-manity of Utah County. "It is such a simple way to help two families in the community. I hope people get excited." "Go to the Web site and vote," said Pat Correa of Habitat Habi-tat for Humanity, noting it would take years to get this kind of donation through some of the organization's other programs, pro-grams, such as gathering donated do-nated aluminum cans for cash. Habitat is urging residents to vote now, and to enter the 84058 zip code no matter where they live in Utah County as they vote. "We only get credit if the vote comes from 84058," said Mathews. For information about Habitat for Humanity of Utah County, call 344-8527. To vote for Gibbons and Habitat, visit wellsfargo.comsomeday-stories. ervation Unit attempted to give her a ticket for not watering her dead, brown lawn. According Accord-ing to police, Perry refused to give her name to Officer Jim Flygare, and she resisted when he tried to arrest her for it. During the altercation, Perry fell, suffering cuts and bruises. A trial was avoided when she pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct and paid a $100 fine. The incident sparked a review of Orem's landscape policy. Stan Sainsbury, development develop-ment services director, said recently that the landscaping ordinance is being reworked in order to make it possible to have a more water-wise yard rtYi mum i' immm one. I miasm Western .omir Bank Life's needs. Life's bank." MMCOMMUNITYWH.COM ' """""" A Second Chance at Life Danny Gibbons's winning essay for the Wells Fargo Someday Stories contest: As my compact-size sedan spun wildly out of control on that lonely Arizona highway, every memory, dream, and regret of my life flashed before my young eyes. At 23 years of age, my expectations expec-tations of becoming an accountant were diminished to simply surviving the crumpled heap of metal that was my car, drenched in cold rain and blood. Time would reveal a new agenda for me through this important tragedy in my life. A broken pelvis and femur bone stranded me in an unfamiliar hospital environment among doctors, nurses, and physical therapists. Throughout the coming months, I would experience more pain, discomfort and sense of achievement than I had ever felt before. Learning to walk again strengthened me more spiritually than it did physically. My experience in physical therapy as a patient has led me to pursue a new dream: to serve others in recovery as a physical therapist. Starting down this new path in college has been an intimidating and exciting adventure! It has sculpted me into an absolutely different person than who I was that night, fighting for survival in that dark Arizona desert. Now, as a financially struggling undergraduate un-dergraduate student, young husband, and soon-to-be father, the pressure is on to reach out, past the obstacles and barriers of life, and seize my dreams! Someday, I will fulfill my dreams by using my challenging life experiences to strengthen my patients and make a difference in this world, as a physical therapist. up for sale in Orem in Utah's desert environment. Perry won't be around to care. "I need to take a cruise or something. I need to get away," she said from a cell phone somewhere in Texas. "When push comes to shove, maybe this is what it took to get me out of that stupid house." Perry walked away from that "stupid house" and signed power of attorney over to Realtor Re-altor Sandy Davidson. "It's just cheaper than the dirt it is sitting on," said Davidson, who adds that, yes, it "looks a little like heck on the outside" but that the interior is great. Davidson and Perry said there is a negatively amortiz- LOOKING FOR COUGAR STATS? www.cougarbluexom Dr. Bruce Richards 233 E.Main,. American Fork, Utah 84003 CRAIG DILGERDaily Herald essay finalists with the hopes physical therapy. You can read Betty Perry's house Address: 1568 S. 800 East, Orem Square feet: 2,394 Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Year built: 1944 ing mortgage on the property, meaning Perry owed more than the home is worth. That pushed Perry over the edge. "I'm just another one of those people who had a foreclosure," fore-closure," Perry said. "I'm not afraid, and I'm not ashamed." -tmergencies j seen the 7 same day X ask about our new pt discount o 1 w n I 1 I i r a 1 0 r 1 a - J 'iirYjdf " i " '" ' .1 SWiH-.j.llWBMli |