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Community Corner

Wawa Customers Rally Around Ailing Doylestown Man

A fundraiser Sunday at a local pizzeria hopes to raise money for a beloved Wawa employee to get a car.

Julie Traina has been a customer of Doylestown’s Wawa since she moved to the area 12 years ago.

One associate, Cris Sterling, always stands out when Traina pops in to pick up some milk or a cup of coffee.

“He’s just so sweet and kind. He’s always upbeat, happy …” she said.

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Still, Traina didn't know that much about Sterling until she learned about the challenges he's facing.

Sterling, 53, of Doylestown, is on medication for an inoperable but non-cancerous brain tumor. He also has neck and back issues that force him to sit while working the cash register at the popular South Main Street convenience store.

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This week, even, Sterling missed a few days of work because he received painful cortisone shots to alleviate numbness in his legs. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to have much of an effect.

Back at work Thursday, his face showed the weight of the pain, but it hadn’t dulled the cheerful attitude he always extends to Wawa customers.

It’s an attitude, he said, that is often then mirrored back to him.

“There are people who come in here all the time, you smile, you say, ‘How are you?’ and mean it, and you get to know them. Everybody is born with that ability … as long as you live that way, you can’t help but be happy,” said Sterling, who spent 15 years in the hospitality business managing hotels. The last four years have been spent at Wawa.

“He knows everything about everyone else; he knows all my kids’ names,” said Traina, a Doylestown mom of five. “I felt bad I didn’t know more about his problems.”

So when Traina heard that Sterling also needed a vehicle to get to and from work (he sold his van to pay for some medical costs not covered by his insurance), she didn’t hesitate to find a way to help. She’s one of many who have rallied around Sterling since hearing his story.

Fulton Bank has started a fund in Sterling’s name to allow members of the community to make donations. Last week’s tally showed $1,400 in donations.

Traina’s goal is to add to that and collect at least $3,000 to buy a dependable, used car for Sterling.

It couldn’t come at a better time.

Sterling has been using a car supplied by a Wawa customer and neighbor, said Traina, but it's unreliable and getting to work each day has proven difficult. In fact, Sterling said the car had a flat tire this week, and, without a spare, he’s without transportation again.

Enter Traina’s son, Jack, and his teammates from the seventh grade boys’ CBAA Wolfpack basketball team.

The boys have decided to sponsor a fundraiser for Sterling this Sunday at Uno Chicago Grill, 1661 Easton Road, Warrington. From 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., mention the fundraiser and Uno’s will donate 20 percent of all sales from lunch, dinner, take-out and bar drink purchases to Sterling.

Basketball team members, many of whom also know Sterling through stops at Wawa, will be there during the day manning a donation table.

“Everybody’s really excited about it,” said Jack, 13, who is a student at Lenape Middle School and usually plays guard for the team. “We all talk to him a lot, and he’s a really nice guy. He’s always smiling and he’s really optimistic.”

The team often does fundraisers to raise money for charities, Jack said. This one just hits a little closer to home.

All the recent publicity about his needs has been "overwhelming," Sterling said, making it hard for him to figure out how to react. Initially, he thought about refusing the aid.

“I didn’t ask for it. I’m just trying to dance with it as graciously as I can,” he said.

But then a friend helped him put things in perspective.

“She said, ‘Cris, you fill a fountain every day for people – you know you can drink from it, too.’ ”

It’s a metaphor that’s helped him accept help from others.

“This is an incredible community,” Sterling said Thursday during a break from his work duties. “Each one of you touches my heart every day for how you are and that truly makes Doylestown an extraordinary place to live and work. I feel truly blessed."

Can’t make Sunday’s fundraiser but want to contribute? Send a check to "CBAA" in care of Julie Traina, 2 Mercer Gate Dr., Doylestown, PA 18901.

Donations also can be sent to “The Cris Sterling Benefit Account,” c/o Gary Bruno, branch manager, Fulton Bank, 736 Street Road, Southampton, PA 18966.

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