PHOENIX — Little Oliver "Ollie" Garza-Pena, who uses a wheelchair to get around, went viral thanks to an image showing him mesmerized by another kid just like him in a Target ad.
The Ability Center of Phoenix, which specializes in wheelchairs and wheelchair accessible vehicles, is helping Ollie celebrate his birthday a little early.
"It started really in my office. We oftentimes will look at different things going on in the community to see if we can help. I saw [Ollie's] little picture with his cute little face staring at that ad at Target and I was as mesmerized with him as he was with the picture," said Lenny Ovadia, the General Manager of Ability Center of Phoenix.
The team went into action, securing donations from Odysea Aquarium, Butterfly Wonderland, Lego Discovery Center, Sea Life Arizona, Dave and Busters, and a Target gift card for some birthday shopping.
The icing on the cake is the ride that'll be taking the family to these fun places: a Braunability Wheelchair Accessible Chrysler Pacifica. It's a four-day rental free of charge.
"What we have are a bunch of great vehicles that a family-like Ollie's would be able to utilize so we thought well, let's reach out to Mom and see if she has a need and she said that would be wonderful," Ovadia stated.
The family is grateful for the Ability Center and its helping hand. They hope other businesses will pay it forward too.
"We hope that because it's changing the world and people see how important this is, hopefully, other companies will follow suit and do little by little, more and more," said Demi Garza-Pena, Ollie's mother.
