It’s back to school time. Parents and young students are consulting school supply lists, filling shopping carts, and getting ready to return to the classroom. Older students are checking dorm room measurements, packing up the family car, and heading off to college.
But for twin sisters Sarah and Rebecca Gaunt, the excitement of returning to Radford (they are sophomores) was gone in an instant. Their lives were irrevocably changed when they received the tragic news that their mother and stepfather, Dale and Shirley Ann Parrott, were killed in an auto accident on July 31.
In the wake of shock and grief, their unimaginable loss became compounded when their college funds were denied because their stepfather had co-signed on the loans. With school just weeks away, it seemed that it would be impossible to find a way to pay in time.
Enter Woodson Honda GM Mike Coyle, and his daughter Sarah, also a student at Radford, who is a close friend of the twins. They got the idea to ask all their friends for a $10 donation toward expenses for the girls. A Facebook page was set up, which they called “The $10 Miracle.”
In a letter Coyle posted on the Facebook page and emailed to friends and associates, he explains that he made a promise to the girls’ mother that “I would take care of them while they attended college in Radford” since Shirley Ann and her husband lived in Charlottesville, and Coyle is so close by in Roanoke.
Asking for donations, Coyle said that, “I feel certain the girls will be able to qualify for programs to assist them with tuition, but it cannot be done before the beginning of the school year . . . The fund has a goal of $16,000 to cover both girls for their fall semester.”
He wrote: “If we can get just 1,600 people to send $10, we can pay for a semester of college for each of the girls . . . The girls have lost their mother and stepfather. Please help me to make sure they don’t lose the opportunity to begin college with their friends as well. These are two more innocent victims of this crash and together, we can help make their life a little better. Linda and I have opened an account at our local Credit Union with a beginning balance of $1000; if just 1,500 more people help out, we can make a huge difference in Sarah and Rebecca’s lives.”
As of this past Wednesday, nearly $22,000 had been raised, which everyone involved believes really IS a miracle. Any surplus funds will be put toward the rest of the girls’ education. Coyle responded to the outpouring with a simple message posted on the site: “God Bless everyone who helped and everyone who prayed for these girls and this family.”
Those interested in donating can send contributions to” Sarah Gaunt and Rebecca Gaunt,” and mailing to Member One Federal Credit Union, PO Box 12288 Roanoke VA 24024-2288. Any remaining funds will be used to open a scholarship in Shirley Ann’s name at Radford. The credit union will place the money in the account for the girls.
By Cheryl Hodges [email protected]