Folks in Charleston are coming together this Christmas season to help a very special young lady deal with a very unfortunate situation. Brittany Riffe, a Stratford High School senior, was left paralyzed after a car accident four months ago while en route to a school orientation program.

And for her 18th birthday, friends, family and community members hope to raise as much money as possible to help Brittany cover some of the many expenses that come with a physical disability. They will hold an event on Sunday, Dec. 23 at the Holiday Inn, (next to Tanger outlet across from the coliseum) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and are encouraging anyone who can attend to do so.

If you can’t make and would still like to help out, checks can be made payable to the Seacoast Church or Brittany’s mother, Sherry Riffe and should be mailed to 1403 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29407. All contributions go to the Riffe Family and are 100 percent tax deductible.

And Charleston County Council Chairman Tim Scott, who has played a large role in helping Brittany, sent us this message:

This story has touched my heart and haunted my mind from the very moment I heard of it. A vibrant, active young girl who loved to dance and perform flags in the school’s winter guard, suddenly paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. For many of us, this may have been the end of our hopes and dreams, but it is not for Brittany.

She is a young woman of remarkable strength and determination and she needs our help. Her overall expenses exceed $200,000, and so far friends and family have been able to raise only about 10% of what is needed. This time of year everyone is asking for a donation for some kind of charity and many of us are stretched thin from the cost of a commercialized Christmas.

I struggled with how to approach you all with this request and I decided that the best way was simply to ask. I am helping to organize a special event to be held on Brittany ’s 18th Birthday.

Some will bring cards of encouragement, some will give monetary donations and some will come to pray for the family. Any and all of these things can make a huge difference in the life of this very special young lady.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at 5:11 pm and is filed under Around the state. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.