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Legacy Ford and anonymous Good Samaritans help accident stricken family

In a heartwarming act of generosity, a few members of the Ponoka community and the Ford Legacy dealership in Ponoka
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Trevor Feragen (far left) and Ross North (far right) of Legacy Ford in Ponoka deliver the keys to a Ford Escape SUV to Michel Cote (centre) and Ghislane Moreault on Saturday

In a heartwarming act of generosity, a few members of the Ponoka community and the Ford Legacy dealership in Ponoka joined forces to support the Cote family, who lost their father in the massive pileup on Highway 2 on March 6, by donating them a 2013 Ford Escape SUV.

Michel Cote, the brother of deceased Eric Cote, who received the vehicle together with Ghislane Moreault, Eric’s wife, said words would not be enough to express their gratitude for “the very, very big heart of the people of Alberta.”

“You can understand, it is a big, big thing for them, the family has to drive their young daughters to treatment every two weeks. She can’t believe it how generous people are, she just can’t believe it and nor do I.”

The family of Eric Cote and Ghislane Moreault, with their two daughters Patricia and Marilou had been struggling to set their life on a steady course for more than a decade with Eric being struck by unfortunate labor accidents and other adversities resulting from them. The two daughters of the family have medical conditions that require continuous treatment. (A more detailed story on the trials and tribulations of the family was published in Red Deer Advocate on Saturday, March 15. http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/Community_rallies_around_Red_Deer_family_devastated_by_tragedy_250430431.html)

Ross North of Ford Legacy said he would not want to take all the credit for the donation and praised the community members who came up with the idea and approached him and other individuals who raised a part of the $23,000 cost of the vehicle.

“I must add that it is through the generosity of a couple of members of our community that brought this to my attention. I don’t want to take away any credit from them,” Ross said.

“They want to remain anonymous. But they came to me to ask for my help, and they gathered up a fairly large sum of money to help with this act and it is due to them that we are moving forward to help this family.”

“It is a really great act on their part,” Ross said of the community members who came up with the idea. “This is one of the things we can do to help, it is a really great example, it is awesome to be a part of.”