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The price of silver: funding Lutz's crusade

Special Olympics

July 19, 2011|By Jonathan Stark | jstark@jessaminejournal.com

Photo by Jonathan Stark

When the Lutzes first decided to send Collin to the Special Olympic World Summer Games, the price tag attached was about $7,000 — a daunting number for any family.

But the Lutzes wanted to give their son the chance of a lifetime and went full steam ahead in their fundraising efforts.

Shorty after the first quote, the price was dropped to $5,000 with the help of funds from the Special Olympics national fundraising.

“It was scary, overwhelming. I didn’t know where to go because every time I tried a different avenue, it fizzled,” Shannon Lutz said.

The Lutz’s turned to their chuch, St. Luke Catholic Church, which had a dinner to help raise money.

A group of teachers at JCTC read an article about Lutz in The Jessamine Journal in March and started calling around to people they knew and asking for donations. A $500 donation came out of Louisville and the ball was rolling.

“(The teachers) kept selling different things and calling people they knew, and they came up with a huge chunk of the money,” Shannon Lutz said.

Steve Lutz’s cousin organized a matching program within her company, Sunshine Financial, and helped raise nearly $2,000.

The wife of a Lexington doctor read about Collin in the Herald-Leader, contacted the Lutzes and found out how much more they still needed and made a donation to close the gap and secure the funds for Collin’s trip.

The Lutzes also received donations in the mail, from neighbors and even while at the gas station.

“There was a lot of drops in the bucket and a couple big splashes,” Steve Lutz said. “A little drop here, a little drop there, a little from church, a little from cards ... it was amazing how it came together.”

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