Community rallies to support Donny Stewart
Dozens gathered in Stapleton Saturday, March 18, to show their appreciation for Donny Stewart, to recognize how he has touched countless lives and to raise money to offset his family’s medical bills.
“What I really wanted to do was get the community involved and try to pay back a little bit of what Donny has done for the community,” said Chase Braswell, one of the organizers of the event. “Everybody knows Donny. Everybody loves Donny. They see what he does. He is one of those who wants to help everybody, even if he doesn’t have it. That’s just who he is. I wanted to make everybody aware of what he’s got going on and to know that we can continue to help him because he’s going to need help for quite some time.”
On Feb. 24 Stewart, who is 34 years old, had a stroke at home. He called close friends Raquel Harris and Krystle Nelen and who sat with him until the ambulance arrived. In the month since then he has been under sedation and on a ventilator in an Augusta hospital. His mother, Lora Stewart, said Friday, March 24, that the doctors had installed a shunt the night before with the hopes of decreasing the pressure on his brain and weaning him off of the breathing machine.
Numerous events have been scheduled throughout the community where he grew up and lives today, including group prayer meetings as well as the spaghetti supper and auction Braswell planned for March 18.
“We sold 100 plates and held a live auction where we sold a variety of home-made goods, baked goods, pies, cakes and bunch of original art and photography created by artists who Donny had worked closely with,” Braswell said. “We had a 15-layer chocolate cake provided by Valerie Perry, I think her mama made it, sell for $350.”
Stewart cut hair in Wrens, loves to cook, ran his own thriving photography studio and even created a photography club that assisted a number of area enthusiasts improve their photography skills.
“He did these things he called Laura sessions,” Braswell said. “He would do these really nice photo sessions for one senior boy and one senior girl at in Glascock and Jefferson County who may or may not be able to afford their own high-end senior photos. He would do it completely free of charge for them.”
Nelen said that when the COVID pandemic struck and area schools had trouble bringing in the usual photography studios, he stepped in to help.
“He helped start a festival in Stapleton and is just one of the most down to earth guys around,” Braswell said.
Nelen said that she and Stewart were like family.
“Donny is the most light hearted, most loving person there is,” she said. “He’s so goofy. He can make anybody happy on a sad day. He just always has a way to brighten your day make you not be negative. You couldn’t ask for a better best friend. It’s hard to list everything he does for people.”
A bank account has been set up at Region Bank in Wrens in Stewart’s mother’s name, Lora Stewart, to accept donations to assist the family with medical bills and whatever comes next.
Lora Stewart said that the family appreciates everything Donny’s friends are doing and added that a recent prayer event really helped her personally.
“He loves to cut hair. He loves to take pictures. He loves to work in the yard with his flowers and he would love to be washing his Mustang,” his mother said.