ok... i guess it's about time for me to respond.

first off i want to say that this event was an absolute TREMENDOUS success. it was beyond anything i could have ever hoped for in terms of the outcome. everybody that came REALLY came through to make this event what it was.

a lot of people are giving me credit for the success of the turnout, but it really went far far beyond ANYTHING i could have done alone. i can't stress the fact enough that this whole COMMUNITY came together in very honorable fashion to help a great cause.

so with that being said, i owe several specific thank yous...

first and foremost a big thanks goes to everybody that even showed up and donated. it says a lot about one's character to be able to donate to a person whom you've never even met before, and it says a lot about the hearts of you all that came out. i enjoyed meeting a bunch of new people, and being able to hang out with everybody.

i owe a big thanks to all the shops and people who DONATED prizes for the raffle. in total, i think we raffled off about $500 worth of prizes, which is pretty incredible for 3 days planning. so thanks to chris @ autosolutions, skip @ MAS racing, jen and joe @ revolution motorsports, neil @ VA Speed, dan @ octane magazine, mike @ ebey, mike @ radioshack, and whoever gave the model cars and stuffed tiger!

i owe also owe a big thanks to everybody that brought food and other things. especially to U BLINKD, stockkiagurl, and Hart-N-Sol. i know a lot of people brought food and drinks, but these 3 really came through in terms of providing for us. i also need to thank our COOKS. raven, lenny, and Split you guys hooked it up!

in terms of the news, i'm not really too upset about it. mike rau @ wavy.com had the decency to call me and let me know that something else came up, so they couldn't come out. regardless of the news or not, this event was not put on as a public SHOWCASE. this event was about providing for the unfortunate who were injured in accident, which could have been any of us.

all in all, we raised $612 in CASH on saturday, with another store committing to $100. this will all go into a contribution account setup through my bank on monday, then it will go out to the families. i'm glad AJ's family supported us in what we were doing, and i can't wait to meet them in person. we also have 2 huge cards full of signatures and get well wishes, and a bunch of flowers to deliver.

all in all, this was a GREAT thing that happened. i was honestly overwhelmed at the response, and it made everything i do for this site WORTH it when we can all come together like we did.

cliff notes: GREAT JOB EVERYONE!

 

i'm glad this event was a true success. i couldn't make the drive down there from nova, but it's good to see how the community came together for a very good cause. mad love and respect to all of you and my condolences to the victims and families and friends.

 

I love you guys!

We def. need more Drag meets like that.

 

 

good job everyone. I wish I could have come out, but I was in the process of moving into a new apt all this weekend

Anyhow, Sung, I wish I knew you were doing raffles man. I would have contributed some hosting accounts or web design or something. Let me know next time you do raffles!

 

Sung let me know when you plan on giving the stuff to the parents I would like to be there.

 

who won the Octane shirts......

 

most definatly!

 

FWIW there were 2 local events that made national news on that day (USS Regan commisioning and C-130 made an emergency landing at Oceana with 20 people hospitalized). So the local news crews were very very busy that day.

Congrats to Sung and everyone with a successful event. I did not make it as I had planned. I would like to make a donation though, just let me know where/how and I will make it happen. You are all a great bunch of people. I am 45 years old and I hate to hear people my age put the "kids" down as a whole. I think you all proved why I have no concern for the future.

 

Just doing what I could to help, but thaks for the recognition