HarveyTrust.org

NOTE: CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO SENT CHEQUES… MARGARET MURPHY HAS TAKEN A NEW POSITION WITH SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY.

A MESSAGE FROM DONNIE

To All My Fans & Supporters,

My time at the Spring Lake Ranch has been anything but idle. I have been put on a woods crew and we have been busy little beavers splitting wood, cutting down trees, sawing off branches, adding sugar tubes for tapping and getting ready to make maple syrup. The Ranch is everything I wished for and for the future far and beyond that I cannot see. By the grace of God, there is a place like this that I can experience, get to know and grow, and make some new acquaintances. It’s a little taste of heaven down here and I feel privileged for me to be here.

I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for the support, encouragement, prayers, money, etc. from all of you there. Your care, compassion, sympathy and concern have all been greatly appreciated at this time and words cannot express my gratitude, thankfulness, and indebtness to you all for your kind acts.

May God richly bless you and may He make you a blessing!

Written by Donnie on Sat., Feb. 14, 2009

Help Fund the Treatment

$15,000 RAISED!!

The Donald Harvey trust has raised $15,000. That's well along the road towards our goal of $50,000.

Many individuals and companies have been very generous. Obviously, Paul has good friends in the petroleum industry and related fields. In many cases the cheques have been accompanied by letters or emails of heartfelt support.
Here are some of the contributors, in no particular order:

East Coast Offshore Conference Committee
N.S. Department of Energy employees
Iain Sinclair
A. J. Fagan
Colleen Reimer
Margaret and Philip Roy
Aquila Exploration Consultants
Contact Exploration Inc.
Jaime and Michael Enachescu
Dr. Mukhopadhyay
Terry and Michele Brown
The Landar Consulting Corp.
Corridor Resources
LXL Consulting Ltd.
David Brown
Parishioners of St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Locks Rd., Dartmouth
Vulcan Minerals Inc.
Encana
Forent Energy Ltd
Margaret Murphy
and many individual contributors who asked to remain anonymous.

Paul and Donnie are off to the States! Paul and Donnie have headed off to the Spring Lake Ranch in Vermont. They left in January and are there now. The cost is around $8,000 Canadian per month. So the money we are raising can be used immediately for this purpose.

Paul Harvey has worked hard for over a decade to find the right treatment for his son Donnie. That journey has taken him to Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; Saint John, New Brunswick and Toronto, Ontario.

Now, Paul and Donnie have arrived at a destination, -- The Spring Lake Ranch in Vermont. It’s a clinic that helps individuals with the right combination of prescription drugs and the basic life skills they need to succeed in society, -- things we take for granted such as cooking, using public transportation, and working and living with others in a community. Donnie is now a candidate for this clinic thanks to his father’s persistence and caring, and the endorsement and recommendation by the team in Seattle.

You can help fund this important step in Donnie’s recovery by contributing to The Donald Harvey Trust. Money will be used exclusively to fund treatment for Donnie Harvey at this recognized medical clinic and related medications that are only available in the United States.

Our goal is to raise $50,000 enough to pay for several months of treatment.

Make cheques payable to The Donald Harvey Trust and give it to your department's communications officer or one of the individuals listed below under "Paul's Friends".

or

Mail cheques to:

Margaret Murphy
Associate Vice President - External Affairs
Saint Mary’s University
923 Robie Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3H 3C3

NOTE: CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO SENT CHEQUES… MARGARET MURPHY HAS TAKEN A NEW POSITION WITH SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY.

Update on Donnie August 12, 2009

As of July 26, our son, Donnie Harvey, has been at the Spring Lake Ranch for six months. Through fund raising and scholarship money from the Ranch, we have been able to keep our debt down to a manageable amount which hopefully can be paid off with an extended work period allowed by the postponement of my retirement. The Harvey family thanks all our financial supporters very much. Donnie’s stay at the Spring Lake Ranch would have not been possible without your generous support. Many thanks to you all!

Donnie is doing the best he has ever done with a combination of good hard work, medication and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. His worked on the garden and wood crews, and helped produce 871 gallons of maple syrup this past spring. Other tasks, for which he is paid, included washing pots and pans and cleaning the main lodge. He is also answered the main phone at the Ranch.

U.S. Customs laws required that Donnie come back to Nova Scotia for a few weeks this summer. The recommendation of the Ranch is that Donnie return to the U.S. for another 6-months in their Aftercare Program in Rutland, Vermont. This is part of the process that will allow him to move completely to independent living. We fully support this next step and we agree with the Ranch that if he is to stays too long in N.S., he may lose the momentum he has gained from the intensive treatment provided to him so far. Our goal is to take him back to the States in early fall 2009 and enter him in the Aftercare program. See www.springlakeranch.org/l_aftercare.asp for more information on this program.

In order to help us with the second phase of our journey, we need to raise another $18,000 to help with his expenses. Please help us again financially to achieve this goal so that Donnie can continue to get the treatment and support that he rightfully deserves.

Thanks so much!

Paul and Heather Harvey

Note: Various organizations would like to help Donnie but their charitable status does not allow them to raise funds for individuals. For that reason we are unable to issue receipts for tax purposes.

In Their Own Words

Hear Donnie and his family talk about this journey in their own words. CBC reporter Jack Julian produced this compelling story for CBC radio. click here. (Requires Real Audio plug-in)

The Breakthrough

Mental illness is often very hard to diagnose and treat. For over a decade, from age 10 to age 29, Donnie was labelled and treated as an individual with borderline personality disorder by the health care system. Paul Harvey, Donnie’s father, travelled to recognized centers and experts in the United States to better understand this condition. That journey took him to Seattle, Washington where he met a team of doctors and experts who agreed to assess Donnie over a week long period. Paul paid for the assessment and the related stay in Seattle with his own money. It was worth it. The tests, conducted in September 2008, showed that Donnie did not suffer from borderline personality disorder! Instead the assessment team found that he has complex transient psychotic disorder related to stressors from early childhood. This condition is treatable with medication. Donnie is receiving medication and his condition is stabilizing making him suitable for admission to the Spring Lake Ranch in the Spring, 2009.

To read more about Donnie’s condition click here disorders.

The Spring Lake Ranch

Click here

Who is Paul Harvey?

Paul Harvey is typical of many hard working Nova Scotians. A native of Lunenburg County, he and his wife have coped with a severe mental illness suffered by their son for years, -- alone. Paul’s depleted his savings in the search for the right assessment and treatment for his son. And he’s supported his son, setting up an apartment for him, and at times, caring for Donnie in the family home . Up to now, Donnie’s illness has prevented him from earning a living or living independently.

And Paul is at the end of his career. At a time when his colleagues are thinking of retiring he must continue to work to support his son and his son’s treatment. He and Donnie have made a breakthrough. Finding the right diagnosis and attending the Spring Lake Ranch will greatly assist Donnie in working towards a positive recovery and management of his illness. He could use some help covering the costs in this last important leg of the journey.

Paul’s Friends

Paul Harvey is a career civil servant who has earned the respect of many inside and outside the provincial civil service. The following individuals and organizations know Paul as an honest, hard working, caring man who has always put his family first. These individuals are familiar with his story and Donnie’s plight and are seeking ways to help. They support this website and this fundraising effort:

Margaret Murphy, Saint Mary’s University
Paul MacEachern, OTANS
David Brown, Canada Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board.

For more information contact
Margaret Murphy
mamurphy@eastlink.ca
Home (902) 429-5138