Like many of you, I was touched by Don44's (Don's) story about the death of his son. He mentioned getting a DE Tommy pin as a kind of memorial to the times he played with his son, and I think we can help him to buy a really good one. From the look of it, he'd need at least $3k for an excellent example.
I am willing to chip in the first $100 and to collect the funds and forward them to him. (I don't want to burden him with this chore.) I will make this as transparent as possible and, of course, not keep a cent of anything donated. I can devote several hours to this cause today and most of the day tomorrow. I will keep updating this thread with progress reports and will issue a "GOAL MET!" celebration post if and when we get above $3.5k.
Here is how I suggest moving forward. Send me a PM, and I will send you my Paypal email address. Send the money as a gift, obviously. I will send you an email acknowledgment. Once we have reached the end of the fundraising (which has to be in a day or two; I have other commitments), I will send each donor a list of the gift amounts so that he/she can see how the money was raised. I will also send this to Don, obviously. (Please let me know how you want to be mentioned [e.g., by name, Pinside name, or "anonymous"].)
When I have sent the money to Don, I will ask him to acknowledge here that he has received it. By the way, I did ask his permission to do this on his behalf. He was surprised but seemed grateful for the support.
Do not be alarmed if it takes me a few hours to respond to any emails. I have some errands to run, but I will keep checking Pinside and my emails as regularly as possible. Also, I plan to sleep tonight!
Let's join together in giving a meaningful gift to a fellow Pinsider at his time of loss. Thanks!
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In case you missed it, here is the link to the original post about his son's death: http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/my-son-tommy-died
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EDIT (10:31 EST 14 Aug.): We just surpassed the $3,500 goal (with $3,556 to be precise)! Many, many thanks to all who contributed! Please note that any funds in excess of the actual cost of buying and shipping the pin will be sent directly to Don to help defray the cost of the funeral, etc. More details will be posted in the thread below. Thanks again, Pinsiders! You're amazing.
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EDIT (8:00 p.m. EST 14 Aug.): If you donated, please check to see if your name is listed correctly: http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tommy-donor-list-please-check-for-your-name
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EDIT (Thursday): There is now a separate thread concerning the memorial poster. Please go there for more information and to communicate with our creative mastermind, flashinstinct:
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tommy-poster-who-wants-in