Generous donor deposits $10K to finish White house

WASILLA — The project to build a home for double-amputee Jim White got a large, anonymous boost last month.

Israel Nelson began raising money in late 2009 to build a new home for the White family. When he went to check the balance on the Mat Valley Federal Credit Union account last week he thought the bank had made a mistake. Instead of the $400 balance he was expecting, the balance was $10,400.

“We are very deeply grateful for that kind of generosity. It’s amazing,” said Nelson of the $10,000 that magically appeared in the project’s account. “I promptly called the main office in Palmer and the young man to which I spoke said, ‘Oh no, that’s a valid deposit.’”

When he asked if there was a record of who made the contribution, Nelson was told: “It was made Feb. 4 and I can’t tell you who made the deposit because it was a cash deposit.”

So he called the bank later to speak to the teller who took in the deposit. The teller said she couldn’t remember who had done it. Feb. 4 was a particularly busy day at the bank.

Nelson figured that with that much money changing hands the donor probably had to show identification. But apparently the benefactor really wanted to remain anonymous and had done some homework — $10,000 is the maximum the bank can take in without ID.

Jim White was the subject of a series of Frontiersman stories detailing his struggles with peripheral artery disease that cost him his legs and his ensuing and sometimes maddening struggles to navigate the government bureaucracies in place to help him with his medical bills and living expenses.

Since the articles appeared his medical bills have been taken care of. Multiple readers called to offer support. Nelson, upon seeing White’s story, took note that White lived in a trailer long past its usable lifespan, kept livable with tarps and White’s own mechanical know-how, tracked him down and started this home-building effort.

As of last month, Nelson said the project was in dire straits, just $30,000 from completion and wondering if there would be enough money to start working again when the snow melted.

Last month’s donation doesn’t quite put the project over the top. Nelson is still accepting donations for the effort through the United Protestant Church in Palmer and its Low Cost Housing Fund. Anyone who wants to help can call him at 354-2268.

Ten grand, he said, goes a long way.

“We’re going to be able to move ahead with the next phase, which will be the drywall,” Nelson said. “Later this month drywall will be installed.”

That big lump sum wasn’t the only money to come in recently. Nelson mentioned two more donations that he said were very heartening.

One check came from a couple who had been socking away small bits of money here and there from their Social Security benefits — the same benefits White gets as a disabled person.

“Out of those benefits they had saved a significant amount for themselves. They sent us a check for that amount,” Nelson said. “They figure that the White family could use it more than they could.”

The second came from a woman who’d donated once already. Earlier in the effort she’d sent a check for $1,000.

“She sent a check for half of that, $500, and said she was sorry she couldn’t do more but her medical expenses had been pretty high this year and she was living on her retirement income and that’s all that she could afford,” Nelson said.

He’s deeply touched, Nelson said, by the depth of his neighbors kindness.

“It’s that kind of wonderful generosity on the part of people that is making this happen,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.