Daneen Tompkinson’s animated smile lights up the Mancos elementary-school hallway mornings during the school year. You’d never know that Daneen qualified for hospice care soon after she was born — she was not expected to live more than six months.

Laura Tompkinson’s daughter, who will start second grade next year, was born with spina bifida. This "spine-in-two-parts" birth defect occurs when the spinal column of a fetus fails to develop and close properly during the first month of pregnancy.

According to the Shriners Hospital web site, spina bifida is "the most frequently occurring and permanently disabling of all birth defects. One out of every 1,000 newborns in the United States has spina bifida, bringing the total number of children born with the condition to 4,000 each year. More children are affected by spina bifida than muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and cystic fibrosis combined."

In Daneen’s case, spina bifida causes her legs to be rigidly extended before her. She easily navigates level surfaces in her wheelchair and moves readily to and from chairs and beds. She loves to go for a walk to the Spruce Street bridge with her mother or with Grandpa Norman Hanson, who also helps to get her in and out of the Tompkinson’s car.

Daneen is in many ways a typical second-grader: Pizza is her favorite food, she has a favorite subject (math), she loves to swim and she’s delighted with her Peruvian flute. Laura says Daneen "had a blast" in Brownies this year, which Daneen says she loves because of "my friends there."

Being able to be with other children is important for Daneen, and it is a constant concern for her mother.

"I don’t want her to ever feel left out," Laura says, noting that the informality of a small town and being near Laura’s mother, Arleen Amaral, helps provide the social contact necessary for a wheelchair-bound girl who has been hospitalized with numerous operations and faces more surgery in the future.

But, as Daneen grows, she gets harder and harder for Laura to lift into and out of their Jeep station wagon. That makes it a chore to take Daneen to swim, or even to get out and go shopping for groceries.

"It’s kind of isolating us now," Laura says. More and more, the Tompkinsons need a specially-equipped van.

Alex-Cine Napolitano became aware of this need and brought it to the attention of the Mancos Valley Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has launched a campaign to get a van for Daneen, starting with the annual Fourth of July BBQ held at the Bauer House.

There will be fun and games and music from 4 p.m. on, with BBQ and all the trimmings at 7, in time to relax and enjoy the Mancos Fire Department’s fireworks at 9.

Donations will cut the costs and increase the benefit: ARAMARK/Mesa Verde Company is donating the BBQ beef and potato salad, the P&D grocery store is contributing the buns and cole slaw, Partners will bring the apple pies and ice cream.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 5-12. Children under 5 get in free. Tickets are available at Mancos Valley Hardware, Mancos Valley Visitor Center, Girl of the West, White Buffalo and the Bauer House.

Contributions to the van fund are also being accepted. Donations were recently received from Archuleta Builders and Dr. MacLeod, an Australian visiting Mancos.

A van adapted for a wheelchair would be a godsend for this family. Between trips to the Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake City and Children’s Hospital in Denver, there are many shorter, local trips that would be easier with such a vehicle.