ClassicAquasport.com Katrina Relief - Please Donate!

[Captain]

The good folks over at ClassicMako.com have spearheaded a relief effort for their members and others who live in the areas devastated by Katrina. Unfortunately, since ClassicMako.com is hosted in Louisiana, their site is down.

I have created a PayPal account where ClassicAquasport.com members and guests can make donations to the relief effort. Simply follow that link, create your free PayPal account, and enter my email address, tom@classicaquasport.com, where requested. Your donation, however small, will be greatly appreciated. I'm getting the donations going with a personal contribution of $500.

My goal is to present a check to Ringleader over at ClassicMako.com on behalf of all of our members.  

Caveat: Your donations to this account will likely not be tax deductible as I am not set up as a non-profit organization. In fact, I personally may run into some tax issues with this, but I guess I'll just figure that out down the road.

[Captain]

Some ClassicAquasport members could use your help.

Like BobbyR, RingLeader, slim, CajunSportsman, Sea Pickle, Skipper, Foxhole, and amor1964.

[Seadog]

YOUR THE MAN CAPTAIN!

I've contributed $500.00 to that end thru another link.

Those people can really use our help and the guys at Classicmako.com are doing a tremendous effort to try to help them.

Wish I could do more...

[Captain]

Thanks Seadog! Hopefully we'll get some more folks to step up to the plate. This event really puts things in perspective.

[warthog5]

OUTSTANDING Tom.
It's 9:00pm and the 1st time I'va had to relax all day with a cold one.
This thing has taken off like a Rocket.

Yesterday it was just a throught that we were kicking around. This morning WOW. My head was spinning today. By 9:00am I had $700 in the account. I took off to the Winn Dixie and explained to the manager who I was and what I wanted to do. I spent $1250. He donated another $150 worth of good's. I knew I had to watch my money and couldn't get everything that I wanted to.
I got back to the house with the good's I bought and there was $1250 in the account.
I had phone call's all day and the email's were pouring in from the PayPal account.
I talked to Ring and he told me he couldn't find any siphon pump's, so I took off again to locate and buy some. 4 stores latter I found 3 and bought them all. Then I stop by a business that my brother's buddy own's. I hadn't seen him in years. He has a paper products business. Cup's ,plates, toilet  paper and such. I bought toilet paper. He gave it to me at cost.
Needles to say it's been quite a day.

[warthog5]

In that pile you see in my truck is:

List of thing's I've bought so far.
4- cases of "D" batteries
4- cases of "D" flashlight's
4- colman lattern's that are powered by "D" batteries
6- cases of Vienna sausage
10- flat's of Campbell's Soup
6- flat's of canned tuna
6- can opener's
21- Big candles
2- cases of Sterno
3- siphon pumps
1 case of toilet paper
1 skid of [24 bottles] bottled water

[steved]

Great initiative Tom - was going to suggest something yesterday but figured you were on the case.

[Seadog]

Great Job Bobby!

Those poor folks are in a world of hurt right now and they can use everybodies help.

We do know how to take care of our own.

Best of Luck!

[Anonymous]

Anyone know whats up with classic mako web site?  I have not been around these two forums in a couple of weeks and notice that theres is down?

[Seadog]

Word is there power is out to the main server in Louisiana, in Katrina's wake.

[Captain]

That is quite a load you've got there warthog5! Kudos to you guys for doing the leg work. I'll try to raise some money. That's the easy part!

Thanks to steved for a $100 donation today!! That puts the ClassicAquasport fund at $600 and rising.

My plan is to accumulate some significant amount and then get those funds over to warthog5 and the other ClassicMako guys. Come on ClassicAquasport fans, let's see what we can do!

[Gilligan]

Captain, I paypaled you some cash, hope it helps the effort.

On another note, RingLeader can start a thread here giving his members updates on their relief efforts and the status of the ClassicMako.com site.   If he can get with his site's registrar (doster.com) and change his name servers to ours, we can redirect www.classicmako.com directly to that thread.  That might be helpful to his members that are wondering what's going on.

[Captain]

Thanks Gilligan. I've suggested that to Ringleader's brother Pat who is ClassicMako's webmaster.

[warthog5]

Just to give you an update. Eddie rolled in here in Pensacola at 2am this morning. His a$$ was dragging. He took 15min to look at my boat and then it was time to get something to eat. Lydia had cooked some boneless pork chops and I made him a pork chop sandwich.
That didn't last long. He wanted to get up at 6:30am. It was 7:00am when he got up.
By 9:00am he was on the road after we loaded all we could. He is in La. somewhere now?

The responce's have been OUTSTANDING.
I have enough money to buy about 3 times what you see in the pix's.

Gary Shellbetter from ClasicMako and own's Shellbetter Fiberglass is working on West Marine to pick up the tab for truck rental's. Gary does a lot of business with them each year. Eddie met Gary in Tampa yesterday. Eddie gave Gary all the paperwork so he could get into the effected area.
When Gary met Eddie in Tampa he brought a trailer and all kind's of stuff to support the effort. Part of it was 2- 125gal fuel tank's to go in the bed of the truck.
That was to help support Eddie's FIL's effort's. Eddie's FIL has a contract with FIMA to move debree and that's how Eddie got the passes and clearance to get in.
The food and item's we send is to help everyone.
When we did this it was a spare of the moment thing and has really taken off.
I know what it was like thru Ivan. All we had was natural gas. No electric, No water.
We did have a roof over our head.
4 day's into Ivan my neighbor show's up with 3 brand new Honda generators from Atlanta and fuel to run them. he said here Bobby go ahead and use this one. [3000 Honda] We were fadding fast with the heat and lack of ice and water.
He has me do work on his boat and trailer from time to time. Needless to say, he get's a super Deputy Dog discount.

This is my way of helping payback the goodness of other's that have helped me.
I know how important a day can make.

[Captain]

Good Lord. I wish I knew Eddie was in Tampa yesterday. I've got 2 honda genarators if you guys want them. One of them still in the box from last year.