One of Our Own Needs Help

[Smokie]

As most of you know Hurricane Charley hurt a lot of people, One of our members Bootlegger (Mel) lost part of the roof on his home and has no power, he could use our help.

Carfixer (Claude) who lives not far from Mel, also is without power, Carfixer has allowed me to use his paypal account for those who wish to donate and help: his account is *** (carfixer@comcast.net). For those of you that prefer to write a check, send me a PM or E-mail me at *** and I will give you my address and I will personally drive to Cape Coral to present Bootlegger with your generosity.

I know we started all about cars, but I believe we are about far more than that. Thank you very much.


PS: I will keep a list of all donations and donors and will post openly, if you send monies to Carfixer at his paypal account, please PM me so I can keep track of all donors.

[Bigdogjim]

If we all do a little it adds up quick:up:

Thank you for thinking about a friend!

[SouLRioT]

PM sent as well. Do they need anything else? And thank you to who ever made it sticky so it stays at the top.

PS. I hope all the sunshine state members help out as much as they can, since we all know how it could have been us insted.

[MM03MOK]

To all Marauderville II Attendees:

Bootlegger was instrumental in arranging our motorcycle escort from the hotel to IMS, having worked in law enforcement in IN.

Thank you, Javier, for bringing this to us and to you, Claude, for the use of your account. Please pass on our positive thoughts to Mel. I will gladly make a donation.

Bunny!!

[carfixer]

Donation sent via paypal...Half to Carfixer, half to Bootlegger, and God's speed to both.

My heartfelt thank you to all those who sent their well wishes and donations. This is a one of a kind group. My family and I have suffered very little financial impact from the storm, unlike Mel and his wife, Sherry. We will be forwarding all donations to them.

When Smokie called me with this idea, it didn't surprise me at all, he is a great friend to all of us. Thank you Javier.

I spoke to Mel on the phone and told him what our MM.net family is doing for him, he is left speechless and is truely grateful.

Thank you and God Bless,
Claude, Paula and the boys.

[Smokie]

Thank you to the good people that started the help rolling. Thanks to Logan who ok'd my request for this effort within seconds of my asking and for allowing a sticky post so that our members have the opportunity to see it and respond if they wish. This is the best club. Thanks to all. Javier.

[Tallboy]

pm sent. the people on this site really are like family. maybe even better.;)

[Smokie]

Spoke with Mel/Bootlegger, He said that hopefully they will have power by Wed/Thurs of this week, no running water yet.

He is touched by the response from our members and it helps to know people care, it really helps with the morale during a difficult time.

[MarauderMark]

Thats right family sticks together!!!Pm sent!!! :rock: God be with you Mel and family...

[Cobra25]

Our group is Like having a second family and I'd be more than Happy too Help. I will be sending you a PM tonite Smokie

[teamrope]

Javier, PM sent. Carfixer, check your e-mail. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you Sunshine State Marauders.:grouphug:

[the_pack_rat]

Smokie check your pm's.

My best wishes to him & all those affected by this horrible storm.

Regards,

Eric < --- via laptop at a friends in Sarasota - our home repairable but NOT liveable at this time.

[Patrick]

As most of you know Hurricane Charley hurt a lot of people, One of our members Bootlegger (Mel) lost the roof on his home and has no power, he could use our help.

Carfixer (Claude) who lives not far from Mel, also is without power, Carfixer has allowed me to use his paypal account for those who wish to donate and help: his account is carfixer@comcast.net. For those of you that prefer to write a check, send me a PM or E-mail me at javier54@tampabay.rr.com and I will give you my address and I will personally drive to Coral Gables to present Bootlegger with your generosity.

I know we started all about cars, but I believe we are about far more than that. Thank you very much.


PS: I will keep a list of all donations and donors and will post openly, if you send monies to Carfixer at his paypal account, please PM me so I can keep track of all donors.

Check your email!

[Smokie]

Just a Big Thank You!!! We have a caring group of people here. I am doing the best I can to monitor responses and still work, so be patient with me. I will respond to ALL .

Claude will send me info on how Paypal is doing and there have been numerous pledges to mail me checks. So we are off to great start, I am hoping that by the weekend some checks have reached me and I can drive to Mel's and put a wad of cash in his hands.

God Bless you All. Javier.

[CRUZTAKER]

By the grace of God we were spared in Bradenton....our '61 trailer would have never survived such a calamity.

[buckyboy]

I live here in ft myers not far from both of them. Anything i can do?..Im local, so anything i can do, if you can get in touch and find out, just let me know. Im here and ready to help any way i can.
As most of you know Hurricane Charley hurt a lot of people, One of our members Bootlegger (Mel) lost the roof on his home and has no power, he could use our help.

Carfixer (Claude) who lives not far from Mel, also is without power, Carfixer has allowed me to use his paypal account for those who wish to donate and help: his account is carfixer@comcast.net. For those of you that prefer to write a check, send me a PM or E-mail me at javier54@tampabay.rr.com and I will give you my address and I will personally drive to Coral Gables to present Bootlegger with your generosity.

I know we started all about cars, but I believe we are about far more than that. Thank you very much.


PS: I will keep a list of all donations and donors and will post openly, if you send monies to Carfixer at his paypal account, please PM me so I can keep track of all donors.

[Smokie]

Just recieved word from Claude/Carfixer on the latest results from his Paypal account only:

Edited by Logan: Names Removed.

There are a couple of you that displayed uncommon generosity...I know who you are. God Bless you All.

[Marauderman]

....My check goes out tomorrow--Thanks for your PM address.......Tom

[Smokie]

Wow. I am tired. Just wanted to say that if maybe I missed a name, or don't respond to a PM or E-Mail, don't feel slighted, I think I have responded to every one who has made contact with me.

If I have not responded to any one individual or have an incomplete listing, don't be hurt or upset...make me aware of it. Those of you who are helping by sending me checks, I will acknowledge receipt and post a list as I receive them...if a reasonable amount of time has passed sinced you sent a check and you don't see your name on the list or recieve a response from me; contact me.

I think I am caught up..for now. Thank You All.

[2003 MIB]

This site really amazes me...I met Javier and his family at MVII. He's a good man and his effort here really doesn't surprise me but does remind me why I spend all my spare time logged in on MM.net. Have we witnessed his finest hour? Nope, this is probably just what we know about- there's likely much more that he would be to humble to tell us. Kudos to you, Smokie.:beer:

I've never met Claude but have enjoyed his posts- I had no hesitation in sending a donation that I know will make it to Mel and Sherry. What kind of man gets impacted by a disaster and forwards the money to someone who needs it more? The kind of man I want to buy a drink at the first available opprotunity. You are selfless and strong, Sir...I am proud to "know" you.:beer:
Mel,
I can't imagine what you and Sherry must be going through right now. You are in my thoughts and I hope things get back to normal very soon. Keep the faith, Bro. You're not alone as long as you're here.

[BruteForce]

Just read about some price gouging goin' on down there in Florida. :fire: :pirate: :cheesed: :mad2: :nono:

[Mongoose]

Good luck to you both!

[teamrope]

Smokie check your pm's.

My best wishes to him & all those affected by this horrible storm.

Regards,

Eric < --- via laptop at a friends in Sarasota - our home repairable but NOT liveable at this time.I am sorry to hear Charley hit you too, but glad to hear you are ok. How bad is the dammage?

[2003 MIB]

Just read about some price gouging goin' on down there in Florida.
I saw a news report about this. Just sickening...They ended the piece showing some grocery stores giving out free water but that's the exception. How do those folks sleep at night???

[Patrick]

They did price increases here in the Blizzard of 93. :down: But most were turned in and busted. Very sad this still goes on. :depress: :depress:

[2003 MIB]

They did price increases here in the Blizzard of 93. :down: But most were turned in and busted. Very sad this still goes on. :depress: :depress:
I knew it was wrong but I didn't know it was illegal...I hope they take care of the FL folks too.

[Patrick]

I knew it was wrong but I didn't know it was illegal...I hope they take care of the FL folks too.

Maybe Marty can step into the Legality of this. I remember fines were issued. And a few small business were forced to close. Word got around and they lost so much business they were forced to close.

[CRUZTAKER]

Bump......

[Smokie]

Today I recieved 4 donation checks for Bootlegger/Mel.

Edited by Logan: Names Removed

Thank you for caring, I plan to see Mel this Sunday.

[SouLRioT]

Glad you got my check, and give our best to Mel......Bill

[Smokie]

As of Sat. 8/21/04 Donations I recieved by mail:

Edited by Logan: Names Removed
Thank You, Javier.

[Smokie]

Just recieved additional info on donations from Carfixer/Claude, this are Paypal and also from the meet last night at Davies--Tower Shops.

Edited by Logan: Names Removed.

Carfixer and I are meeting with Mel tomorrow and I just got off the phone with Mel, he does not have access to the internet at this time, but he asked me to express his deeply felt gratitude to all the good people that have helped him and his wife during this very trying time. He will be online as soon as possible. Thank you all , Javier.


PS: Any omissions or errors with my list, please make me aware of it.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[Logan]

I would ask that people refrain from posting their participation and simply donate or give as you see fit. Posting real names on this site is not generally recommended and is something that should remain so.

I would also ask that this thread be restricted to updates from those affected and best wishes to those affected.

Some posts have been deleted or edited to bring this thread within the above criteria. Some may question this, but I have legitimate reasons that I will not discuss.

I absolutely thank those generous souls donating to this cause and Smokie for taking care of the logistics.

[Smokie]

I have been made aware that some good people that helped Mel, are not happy with my posting their names in my attempt to thank them and acknowledge their kindness. To those I offended I apologize. I will not post anymore names.

Sometimes good intentions are not enough, I wanted everything to be above board and I went about it the wrong way. Sorry. Javier.

[Logan]

Don't worry about it Javier. It's all good and it was certainly well intentioned and innocent. :up:

[martyo]

Sometimes good intentions are not enough, I wanted everything to be above board and I went about it the wrong way. Sorry. Javier.

Javier: I, for one, do not think an apology from you is necessary at all. You are a good soul who followed his heart. There is no apology necessary for that. In fact, a few others on this site could learn a lesson or two could from you.

Hold your head high, my friend!

[Patrick]

Javier: I, for one, do not think an apology from you is necessary at all. You are a good soul who followed his heart. There is no apology necessary for that. In fact, a few others on this site could learn a lesson or two could from you.

Hold your head high, my friend!

Well said!!!!!!!!!!!!

[teamrope]

Javier: I, for one, do not think an apology from you is necessary at all. You are a good soul who followed his heart. There is no apology necessary for that. In fact, a few others on this site could learn a lesson or two could from you.

Hold your head high, my friend!
I think thay is pretty much how all of us who have met you feel.

[SergntMac]

Javier, I have no way of reaching out to you other than to post here. Please contact me directly at SergntMac@aol.com.

[Cobra25]

Javier: I, for one, do not think an apology from you is necessary at all. You are a good soul who followed his heart. There is no apology necessary for that. In fact, a few others on this site could learn a lesson or two could from you.

Hold your head high, my friend! I agree with Martyo too, you stepped up too the plate and did a good thing. Their should be more people in this world like you!

[SergntMac]

Javier: I, for one, do not think an apology from you is necessary at all. You are a good soul who followed his heart. There is no apology necessary for that. In fact, a few others on this site could learn a lesson or two could from you. Hold your head high, my friend!
I could not agree with you more.

I had a delightful exchange with Javier last night, despite his fatigue, and I must say he is quite the gentleman to chat with. I missed MV-II, and I missed meeting up with a friend I've been sharing this site with since my first post here. We covered a lot of ground behind his efforts here, and I have sympathy for him in the aftermath of a well intended program.

Javier took some heat he didn't deserve, none of which came from this thread. In fact, Javier says he never read any of the deleted posts, from anyone. However, he did get a lot of e-mail, PMs, and a whole lot of questions, from many he could not reply to, for lack of an included screen name, or even a given name. Absent any ability to follow up with nothing more than an obsecure e-mail addy, he made some decisions on how to run his program, and with little experience in this kind of program. I'll let Javier decide what additional details he wishes to share with you, if at all, but IMHO, we need to show more respect to a man with a heart that's bigger than it ought to be.

Javier meant only to show us his respect, and how careful he was with the donations. Sadly, some of us were not patient, and took other paths to get what they wanted done right now. What we didn't thinkm about, is that Javier works outside, not at a desk with web access, and he's a busy man when home. I imagine time to check in here is less frequent for Javier than most of us.

One thing I will share because it exemplifies the character inside the man. Those of you who wrote and mailed checks, look to see who endorsed them. Yes, Javier deposited the checks in his own account and covered them with his own funds to deliver the only spendable currency in any disaster zone...cash. I'm not sure I would have done it this way, but like I said, he had some tough decisions to make, and on his own.

For the record, I shared every word of my deleted post with him, though he said he didn't need to hear it. He came to say that it was the same advice heard from his wife, which he finally took. In brief...my message meant to say get busy, move forward, answer them later. He did just that, so, those of you waiting for a response from Javier, have patience, please? Moreover, are you sure you made that possible? In your e-mails, did you link your screename to your e-mail addy?

I am sure members who did not want their personal data posted here mean well, and I would respect their request for privacy too. I've done some special projects here myself, and I know the road Javier was traveling here. Marty, you should know this too, that some think an e-mail addy tells a story that everyone should know. It does not, not always. Sadly, due to his committments elsewhere, and his dedication to this effort, requests seemed unheard, or, ignored, and Logan interveined.

Yes, it looks like a mess ^ there, and it all seems to have happened all at once. But, if you have to place blame for that, blame it on bad timing.

Thank you again, my friend, you are a true friend to us all.

[MAD-3R]

Mac, truely well said.

The call that Smokie made was good and well intended, and I have no problem with it, but in this day of hypersensativity to Identity theft, good intentions can touch a nerve. So to those who felt the steel dental tool hit the sore touth, take a :pill: . And before anyone gets on my case for spouting off about what I don't know about, yes, I have been a victem of ID theft.

Removing the names at the request of the people was the right thing, but don't jump on the man for trying to get people the recognition for the good things they did.

[jaywish]

Thank you Javier, for what you have done.

Jay

[GordonB]

Javier,
Thank you for helping out. Tell Mel and his wife (and any of our other affected members here) we wish them a speedy recovery.
GordonB

[Smokie]

I was out of commission yesterday (Monday) So just a general update, my wife and I spent most of Sunday with Mel, Carfixer,his lovely wife and boys.

Mel has of course problems yet to be resolved, but he has power and he is very encouraged that he is not alone and that people care, he will respond when he is able to, but I was there and I assure he is touched by the outpouring of support.

I want to thank those that wrote such kind words ^^^, everything is cool, no worries I am learning as I go along, and the only thing that is important is that together we did a good thing, makes me feel good...end of story. Thank you all !!!

[Patrick]

Thank You Javier for kindness and your efforts. Helping comes from the heart not from al list of people who have contributed. Not to bash! Not my intention!! Your Caring for people is enough for me! I sent money but asked you not to add my name to the list! And you respected my wishes! Thank you! We need more People Like Javier!!!!!!!!

[martyo]

We need more People Like Javier!!!!!!!!

Yes. Yes we do!

[67435animal]

I was out of commission yesterday (Monday) So just a general update, my wife and I spent most of Sunday with Mel, Carfixer,his lovely wife and boys.

Mel has of course problems yet to be resolved, but he has power and he is very encouraged that he is not alone and that people care, he will respond when he is able to, but I was there and I assure he is touched by the outpouring of support.

I want to thank those that wrote such kind words ^^^, everything is cool, no worries I am learning as I go along, and the only thing that is important is that together we did a good thing, makes me feel good...end of story. Thank you all !!!

Thank YOU for helping Mel.

Bob