Leukemia Benefit Race and Fund Raiser

[mangeldbug]

FANTASTIC NEWS!  We just hit $500 in member donations!!   
This means with the DMF match amount, the DMF will have donated $1000 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!

Thank you so much on behalf of the Ringel family to everyone who has given to this great cause.

BUT I will still be collecting donations through the end of August!  $500 was the goal to maximize the match amount, but it is by no means a cap amount!  Let's try to collect all we can in these last few days of August!

[Randimus Maximus]

Awesome! 

[Howie]

Yaaaay!

No need to stop giving though, folks

[Randimus Maximus]

Bump for the last day or so for donations!

[mangeldbug]

Bump for the last day or so for donations!

Thanks Randimus!  Yes, today is the last day I will be collecting donations sent to the paypal address but you can continue to order T-shirts!

[mangeldbug]

OK, FINAL total donated by the DMF was $1000!  I received the match amount a few days ago from the Admins.  Thank you all so very much!  When Paul Ringel was first telling my mini race club of his plans for this benefit race, he was hoping to raise $1000 TOTAL from all sponsors combined. 
The fact that the DMF alone raised that much is quite an accomplishment!     

I wanted to share something that Harrison's mother wrote in response to a PM I shared from ZOSO about Harrison and the benefit race.  I think it sums up the Ringel's thoughts and feelings nicely.

Thank you so very much for sharing that with us. You and Ryan have been so helpful in raising these funds and encouraging others to help us. As I (Ginny) read what you sent from Peter and what you wrote, I was so touched, tears ran down my cheeks. To know that our Harrison inspires those who don't even know him, is very touching to me.

This whole journey has been surreal and though my tears flow often, they have sometimes been the result of something that makes me smile. I keep thinking that Harrison, after all he has endured, will be a really neat man, and sometimes I have to be reminded that he already is a really cool kid. Though I'm not sure why this has happened to my little man, the great part of all of it is the positive attitude he continues to have, and the sweet and happy boy he remains. You have reminded me of one of the reasons I am so very proud to be his mom.

Thanks again for all you have done, and continue to do. It means the world to us.

Love,
Ginny Ringel

T-shirts will be available for order until they are gone!  I will edit the first post to reflect that.

[mitt]

I  got my T-shirt.  Damn nice for $11 shipped     

mitt

[somegirl]

From the start of this forum to date, the admins have each taken fifty dollars as a beer/drink money as a thank you to the members who have donated to the beer fund (pictures in progress as we know we now owe drunkled proof).

Whatever happened to the drunkled proof?

[ducpainter]

Whatever happened to the drunkled proof?

Psssst...

I'm living proof.

[mitt]

Whatever happened to the drunkled proof?

Here is 2 of us - I will let you guess who's who.








The other flounders are slackers getting their pics up

[ZOSO]

I wanted to share something that Harrison's mother wrote in response to a PM I shared from ZOSO about Harrison and the benefit race. 

Kristen,
Thanks for sharing Ginny's touching e-mail. 
It is nice to know the DMF helped a family that appears so kind and deserving.
I will continue to draw inspiration from Harrison and will keep him in my thoughts.
Take care,
Peter

PS: BIG thumbs up to the DMF admins, it was their generosity that partially drew me out of the woodwork!

[somegirl]

Here is 2 of us - I will let you guess who's who.

 

[Statler]

slippery tires.  saved it with my knee.   'cause I gots mad skillz.





glad we could help out with the cause. 

[mangeldbug]

  That's fanTASTic!

[mangeldbug]

My husband and I are back from the Benefit Race!  The benefit was Saturday and then there was a regular OYL club race the next day (ugh, tired!).  There were quite a few spectators there for the benefit, and we had a bunch of members from the NJ MiniGP racing club come out!  That was pretty cool - we had some pretty big grids of minibikes!  They put stands out in the field in some corners, and since there were shirts available for sale there, when you looked at the stands it was just a sea of green!  Very cool.  They had go kart rentals between the bike races, a blow up bouncy thing for the little kids, some National Guard guys were there in their BDU's with a big military HumVee and they were giving rides, and then there was food and lots of stuff that people donated for a silent auction (we got a shirt signed by Mat Mladin, Sidi boots worn and autographed by Aaron Yates, and a real Larry Pegram Ducati team shirt).  They had lots of other stuff - signed helmets, other signed shirts, Indianapolis MotoGP stuff, gift certificates to local shops, etc.

At first count, after paying what they owed for the use of the track and the go karts, they raised over $4000!  I have photos - will post them when I have a chance.

There are still LOTS of T-shirts available for order!  Paul, Harrison's dad, said he is getting them out the same day he receives the checks from people.  With all the donations they have received for Tshirts orders, all orders are now 100% profit to go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma foundation.  He said there were quite a few people Saturday that wrote checks for $50 or more but only wanted a single shirt.  With all the doom and gloom you see on the news, sometimes the kindness and generosity of people surprise you.  

...Oh and speaking of the news, one of our OYL members went to some local news stations with the story of Harrison and the benefit race to ask if they would like to cover it and NO ONE wanted to!  Seriously, a story about people from all over the country coming out to help a sick kid and raise money for the Leukemia Foundation?  What's better than that, especially for a small town in Ohio?  I guess its too uplifting and inspiring for the news  

Paul also said he has been telling the story of the DMF donation to everyone and it just blows people away.  No one else even came close to donating what we came up with.  Ginny, Harrison's mom, came up to me and expressed how much she appreciates all that we have done and got all teary.  We should really be proud.