'I couldn't believe it': Sask. town fundraises enough to buy adaptive vehicle for local man

Hudson Bay, a town with a population of 1400 in the east-central part of Saskatchewan has raised over $30,000 to buy a new adaptive vehicle for one of their community members.

The people of Hudson Bay purchased the vehicle for David Didychuck, who was paralyzed in an accident as a young man.

Mayor Betty Lou Palko said when Didychuck's vehicle eventually broke down after years of use, the town rallied together to buy him a new one.

"The community tried to fix it," Mayor Palko said. "But, it wasn't to be."

Organizers opened a donation fund so people could contribute to buying a new van.

Some donors were people from out of province who had previously lived in Hudson Bay and found out about the cause through social media.

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Over one third of the money donated was raised at a live music event which featured local performances.

“[The event had a] drop-in fee, whatever you wanted to put in to come in that night. They sold raffle tickets. They sold door prizes, they had door prizes, and they had a 50/50 going." Palko said.

She said by the end of the night they had raised $12,430.

Didychuck was surprised by the amount of support he received. "Everybody donated that much money, I couldn't believe it," he said. "I started crying…, so I didn't know what to say."

Volunteers fixed up the new van so that it could be operated entirely by hand.

"Now David is back going around the community helping out again," said Palko. "So it was a way we helped someone and we got a volunteer back. I'm very proud of our community for doing that."

Didychuk, a longtime volunteer, dedicated years to helping the community that came together to support him in his time of need.