God Is So Good

Joel Stafford
and The Starlighters




God Is So Good

Joel Records

1975

Statesville Record And Landmark from Statesville, North Carolina, September 20, 1976, page 9

Wheelchair Is Sought WINSTON-SALEM (AP) — Joel Stafford, 9-years-old and suffering from a rare bone disorder, has his heart set on an electric wheelchair. "I'm going to buy myself a wheelchair," he vows. "I'm going to take it to school so I can roll myself around." Joel has a congenital condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, which means his system lacks the calcium needed to harden and develop bone tissue.  He has steel rods in his legs, but his arms have not developed enough to permit such bone-replacing surgery. Joel sings regularly at his church, and his parents — Wayne and Linda Stafford — took him to a small recording studio to make a record.  It is called "God is So Good," and has sold about 1,000 copies so far. The electric wheelchair Joel wants could cost as much as $1,500. Joel made the recording in hopes of raising enough money to buy the chair.  Though small and unable to move around well, Joel has a happy face and is undaunted by the dangers confronting him.  He hasn't broken a bone since February, a considerable improvement over the past. Often a simple wrong movement could cause a bone to break. He has received therapy at the Shrine Hospital In Greenville, S. C. He attends school at the Children's Center In Winston-Salem, and enjoys school.

Apparently little Joel had raised enough money to buy the wheelchair. But the wheelchair was stolen shortly after, in 1977.  The Piedmonitor.from September 01, 1978 reported :

Frank Barnes, of Winston maintenance, met one of his special friends, Joel Stafford, at the Children's Center during the solicitors' tours of the Forsyth County United Way agencies. The Company long has had a tradition of giving generously to the United Way. It is a tradition that unquestionably deserves to be maintained. and Frank helped promote Joel's gospel singing records to raise money to replace his wheelchair. Joel and Edwin are two of the many people helped by Piedmont's participation in the annual fund drive.

God is so good?