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Kaluza friends take their cause to the fair
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Joseph Kaluza
The Kaluza Project || How to help
Here’s how to contribute to The Kaluza Project, a nonprofit organization raising funds to build a handicap-accessible home in Youngstown for the paralyzed victim of a shooting last year:
kVisit the Canfield Fair: The group will staff a tent behind the fair’s Administration Building, which is across from the Colonial Inn. Monetary donations can be made, and pledge forms will be available.
kBy mail: Send tax-exempt donations to The Kaluza Project, P.O. Box 8, North Lima, OH 44452-0008.
kMore info: Visit www.thekaluzaproject.com
Source: The Kaluza Project
The Kaluza Project hopes to raise $250,000 for a new home.
YOUNGSTOWN — Family and friends of Joe Kaluza are turning to the Canfield Fair in their mission to help the paralyzed shooting victim.
Kaluza, former manager of KFC on South Avenue in Youngstown, was shot March 24, 2008, while delivering a deposit to a bank at the end of a shift. He is paralyzed from the neck down as a result.
Kaluza’s sister, Anna Fitzgerald, and others close to the 43-year-old have formed The Kaluza Project, a tax- exempt charitable organization, to raise money to build Kaluza a new home.
“The goal is obviously to build this house that is 100 percent handicap- accessible,” she said. “We need to raise about $250,000.”
To get word out about their cause, members of The Kaluza Project will set up a tent at the Canfield Fair and ask for donations. Fitzgerald said the tent will be set up behind the Administration Building and will allow passers-by to make donations and learn about what will go into the new house.
“We’ll have pledge cards and envelopes so people don’t have to bring the money to the fair, and we’re going to have buckets for people to drop money into,” she said.
Jim Phillips, a family friend who got involved with the project, said the tent is sure to draw attention, even to those who don’t already know it’s there.
“Right in front, we’ll have a picture of Joe so you’ll see him in his wheelchair. That picture draws you in,” he said.
“Once you get to the booth, there are pictures of the special devices the house will contain.”
Phillips said he’s confident that if Mahoning Valley residents continue to be as generous as they’ve been since the shooting, raising the money won’t be a problem.
“This is definitely a right and just thing to do, and this community has raised millions of dollars for [other charities,]” he said.
Fitzgerald said all it will take to raise the money is a little generosity from fairgoers.
“If 300,000 people walk through this fair and everyone gives $1, we’ll have no problem getting this house built,” she said. “The hearts of our community will make this happen.”
The Canfield Fair kicks off Sept. 2 and runs through Sept. 7. Fitzgerald said Kaluza will likely stop by the tent at least one day during the fair.
Previous benefits to assist Kaluza have included a bike run earlier this summer and the South Side Shuffle charity walk the past two years.
Fitzgerald said Kaluza’s current Ivanhoe Avenue home is too cramped and isn’t handicap- accessible enough for his wheelchair.
She said the new home will be built on two lots on the same street.
“We need to get him the open, wide doorways and an open floor plan, as well as environmental controls and voice-activated controls,” she said.
Kaluza also desperately needs to to have a lift and transfer system to help move him from his chair to his bed, Fitzgerald said.
“He gets so bored doing a figure eight around his bedroom, living room and kitchen,” she said. “It would be great to see him get a little bit of his independence.”
Phillips said Kaluza is like a prisoner in his own home.
“Since Joe’s been home, he’s a prisoner in his wheelchair, which only fits between the kitchen and the living room,” he said. “With this house, he’ll be able to move freely throughout the house and the neighborhood, too, if he wants.”
efranco@vindy.com