Target workers fundraise to get new wheelchair for coworker
Employees with Target Canada may have every reason to be upset these days with the certainty of job loss ahead of them, but workers at one Newfoundland store are still looking out for one of their own.
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Bradley Goodyear is deaf and has cerebral palsy, and has had a steady job stocking shelves at the St. John's Target location for 19 months.
Goodyear said through an interpreter that the chair was giving him some rather serious issues.
"One time he had a fire that started in the back of his chair, the motor gave out and it was very dangerous. When he was going up a hill and it caused a lot of problems and it was really hard for him to get back and forth from work."
Store manager John Pritchett said it was no secret among staff that Goodyear's wheelchair was a problem.
"We knew he was having a lot of troubles with that wheelchair, but we also knew that it was sort of his lifeline to independence," said Pritchett.
Goodyear's coworkers recognized that he would need a new chair to ensure he could keep his independence when the store closes in the spring and workers are out of a job.
"Several of our team members also started a coffee shop at the front of the store, because we no longer have coffee for sale here, and raised money that way as well," said Pritchett.
Within 16 days, they raised $12,000 - enough for a brand new wheelchair.
Goodyear said through an interpreter he was overwhelmed by the gesture.
"He was just lost for words, he had absolutely nothing to say but he was just completely happy — and I know that he was in tears."
The dozens of persons with disabilities employed at the Target Canada locations will all be back on the job market by spring.