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Organizing a Benefit

STXRWSTXRW subscriber Posts: 1
edited August 2006 in Marketing
Does anyone have any advise on how to organize a benefit. I took my family on vacation a few weeks ago and we met this very nice man at the motorcross track that we took my son to. This man helped me fix on of the boys motorcycle and then took my son out on the track and gave him riding lessons out of the kindness of his heart. We spent the afternoon with him and had a great time. When it was time to head back to camp we loaded the motorcycles up on the trailer and started driving out of the motorcycle park. As we came around the bend I noticed a crowd of people standing over a man laying on the ground. I ran over and they were doing CPR on him. I am a Red Cross Instructor and Paramedic. I got down and started helping and I looked the man in the face. It was the guy we had spent the day with. He left behind a wife and 5 children.  He had touched our hearts in the short amount of time we spent with him. My family is interested in organizing a benefit for his family but we do not know where to start. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.Chuck

Comments

  • STXRWSTXRW subscriber Posts: 1
    Thanks for the advise.My first thought on this is to try and organize the benefit at the motorcross track where he passed away. I figured that the people there would probably be willing to work with me. Then approach motorcycle dealers to see about selling tickets to raffle off a dirt bike at the benefit. The benefit could expand to include the things you spoke of like a band, food, etc. I appreciate your input.
  • friendsfirlifefriendsfirlife subscriber Posts: 4
    Hi Chuck -
    What a touching story.  A bennefit event like what my DH describes would be wonderful and could raise lots of money.  It does take a fair amount of time and effort to organize, but can be totally worth the effort. 
    If you are looking for some other options or ideas, here are a few:
    1) send an e-mail or letter to everyone you know - family, friends, aquaintances, business associates or contacts - tell the story, maybe even with a little more detail about the man and his family and your experience - and ask for a donation.  My sister did this recently for a family friend whose son is very ill and was able to raise a few thousand dollars for them.
    2) contact the local media in the man`s home town or area and also in your area.  This is a beautiful "human interest" story that I would think the media would love.  Tell the story and ask the media if they will write a story and include information as to where people can send donations.  If you set up a separate bank account, strangers will be more inclined to donate.  You can even ask the bank if people could send donations directly to them, giving even more legitimacy.
    3) depending on the ages of your children, involve them in the fundraising -they will learn so much from it.  They can take up a collection at school or have a bake sale or maybe the school would send out or distribute a letter to all the families. Also, same approach can be taken at any church,community group, or association that you or your family are members of. 
    Before contacting the media, you want to make sure the man`s wife is ok with it since the media may want to talk with her.  If you are not already in contact with the family and are hesitant, I`m sure they would want to hear from you how their husband/father touched your lives in the few hours of his life.
    Setting up a separate bank account where you can deposit money in, but only the wife can withdraw, will definitely help any of these strategies. 
    Good luck and let us know how it goes.
    Lisafriendsfirlife2006-8-26 13:37:14
  • STXRWSTXRW subscriber Posts: 1
    Lisa,Thank you for your ides.I have been in touch with the family since that night. I had left my cell phone number with the hospital emergency room nurses. They gave my number to the family and I received a call later that night from his sister-in-law. We have stayed in touch and are planning a trip to his home town to meet them. They invited us to his funeral, however, we were not able to attend due to work. They read a story that my wife wrote at the funeral about our meeting him and how he touched our lives. We will forever be a part of each others lives!Chuck
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