Quinn Wilbur - June 2019 Update

I’d like to share some updates regarding Quinn Wilbur, the recipient of our Friends of Quinn Trust Fund as well as a message from his mother, Carrie (below).

Quinn Wilbur is an adventurous and vivacious 13-year-old with an intense love for life and SPEED! Quinn is the youngest of 4 siblings who are cared for by their loving and selfless single-mother.

At birth, Quinn was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Polymicrogyria, a rare form of cerebral palsy. Carrie, has since dedicated her life to ensuring Quinn is afforded the highest and happiest quality of life possible.

When I met Quinn, Carrie and her three daughters at church, I knew I wanted to help them however I could, and knew I had the perfect platform to do so with The Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathons. Quinn was the first purpose I raised money for, and I am eternally grateful for that opportunity as we have been able to do so much to enhance his life and enhance his joy.

We’ve been running the Friends of Quinn registration option since 2013 and have made a massive difference in the life of Quinn and his family. Last year we raised $38,000 and Quinn was able to get a fully customized Silver Bullet Van which granted him and his family greater freedom in mobility and allowed them to continue enjoying family trips with an overall sense of ease in travel.

So far this year, we’ve raised $13,000 from our June 9th Tunnel Marathon! From the many wonderful years of our marathons, together we have given over $100,000 to the Quinn Wilbur Trust! We are absolutely ecstatic and humbled at what you all have helped us accomplish.

Thank you for helping us lift up the happiness!

~Susan, Owner of Tunnel Marathons

Help Us Reach Our Goal to Support Quinn for Tunnel Vision!

A MESSAGE FROM QUINN’S MOTHER, CARRIE-

“Our first trip made possible by the Tunnel Marathons fundraising was to see the 2017 Solar Eclipse. We camped in the middle of a field by the airport in John Day, Oregon; and because of the fundraising we were able to get a nice cot for Quinn and a good tent that had especially accessible flaps. We managed to have a little kitchen setup that we would not have been able to have otherwise. The opportunity for Quinn to go and sit there with the special eclipse viewing glasses on and see all of that… A scientist had setup her birding scope backwards so she could project what was happening with the sun onto a big piece of whiteboard, and Quinn was directly next to it for part of the viewing. When it was almost complete, I put the glasses on Quinn and told him ‘This is the only time you’ll be able to look at the sun’ and his head snapped up to look, and it was incredible!

To be in a position to be able to continue to go places and do things with Quinn, the same as we did with his older siblings when they were little, we need a little mobile installation to pull it off, and we can do that now: the new van has an inverter, so we have a small fridge to plug in for his medicine that has to stay cold, and we can charge his feeding pump and his talker.

While on that same Oregon adventure, we also went to the Thomas Condon Paleontology and Visitors’ Center, in the John Day Fossil Beds. It’s out in the middle of nowhere and we were again able to go visit because of the funds raised by Tunnel Marathons.

Quinn is a really subtle kid. People have to take time if they want to talk with him and get a response, but if someone is willing to really sit with him and wait for that moment to unfold... His smile is pretty awesome and a great reward. He loves silly jokes, he loves music, and Nature and Nova, and he’s happy to share that and more with whoever is willing to take the time.

Every contribution that has come from the Friends of Quinn Trust has spawned amazing, unimaginable things. There’s no way we could’ve done any of this without that kind of help. The words people would use to express gratitude for this are all worn out and inadequate. There’s no way to appropriately express how wonderful it is to be able to just take him where he wants to go.”

 Help Us Reach Our Goal to Support Quinn for Tunnel Vision!