The Situation Room

I just sent $$ sorry I couldn't help more.

I am glad to know people like all of you.

Icesis asked me if Katlyn is in need of clothes or toys.

I was thinking.... many of us have extra things around the house of value collecting dust. I know Ares and I are EBay savvy and if people donated winter carnival, partylite, collectables, gift certificates that people would want... we could do a EBAY Charity Auction. All items get listed the same day and close the same day and all procedes could be a final gc to Cub/Rainbow OR a cd for Katlyn for college or something. Any ideas on this idea?

Man, just the wrong time to die - just after Christmas and just after I finished paying lots of bills. I'll try to get a Credit Card donation in sometime today. Get paid real money tomorrow. Thanks EVERYONE who has been able to chip in so far.

I will do a paypal donation tomorrow - need to do a little budget adjusting in the meanwhile.

I love the idea of an ebay or any kind of charity auction.

Please post about that prominently if it happens. I will start going through things here to donate.

If we want to think about a silent auction at a benefit for them I would be happy to donate 4 seats on the third baseline to a game this coming season at the new Target Field. I think that they would catch a pretty good price.

Has any one contacted the Klondike Kate's? Nicole is pretty active in that group. I bet they could get something started . I think the 2009 competition is this weekend.

just heard the news... man what a tragedy!

I think this type of thread is more for the rest of us - a way to outlet ourselves without burdening the bereaved with a lot of misc chatter. Everyone seems to be passing appropriate sentiments in MM's Cooler Chick's thread anyway.

Facebook members: please make sure you become a fan of Lakeside Floral, who donated the flower arrangement from Nic and Kait. The page info is on the Event page for Mark's service.

Thank you guys!

(Oh, and of course Yarusso's, but I am sure everyone is already on there??)

For those of you who have donated, a big thank you. For those of you who haven't donated because of your own hardships but really want to, thank you too.

General money status update: Sue talked to the press today, and she and I went to the bank and IRS today and set up a non-taxable memorial trust for the family, so you can tell friends/family/etc. that if they want to give they can go to any Wells Fargo and make a deposit into the "Mark Evenson Memorial" fund.

Cooler money update: just got off the phone with Eags, and with her donation, I can officially say that Mark's funeral is 100% paid for by the Cooler Crew. Nice job gang. That's quite a statement to be able to say about a group of people in 24 hours.

For those of you who have given I will send notes to you to let you know that I've gotten your money.

Also: I found a graduate program in floral preparation in Minneapolis that I was able to persuade the teacher to do today's class project as funeral bouquets. The bouquets will be donated to the family, one will be in the name of the cooler crew.

That is really nice Redbear - thank you! This group is truely amazing and awesome. I seriously feel honored to know you and be your friend

Namaste

Holy Moley! - I guess you can never underestimate the generosity of 'strangers'. Do you still want my 2 cents via PayPal or should I go to Wells Fargo?

I want to say thank you to everyone who was able to set all this stuff up for Nicole so that she would have one less thing to worry about. This is such a great group and it still awes me how generoug and kind and caring everyone is.

Do you need someone to pick them up on my way in I am coming from Minnatonka! and it is right on my way in!!

I would be glad to do it!

You guys truly amaze and awe me. Ditto what Diggin said! I've seen it over and over again with this wonderful group, but it still never ceases to amaze me what can be accomplished!

And we, too STILL need to throw our proverbial 2 cents in the pot - so please do post if we should still go through the pay pal or Wells Fargo.

You can do either way, it's all going into the same place. I'm dumping the paypal money into the wells fargo account. If you bank at wells fargo let me know and I can give you the account number and you can just transfer money there too.

Paypal charges a fee. At this point I think Wells is the better option. I can't make the services, but I'll be there in spirit.

FWIW - There was no fee for my paypal transaction

Give MM and Kaitlynn a hug for me.

The wife has Wells Fargo - I can probably get a donation in via her account.

I had to pay a fee for mine. There was an option to pay the fee myself or it would be deducted from the amount I gave.

Just found this. T - I will go donate when I get done posting here.

Just a thought - if you are short, maybe talk to Yaroussos (sp?) and see if they will do a dine and donate night for you. Its where you make a bunch of flyers, and on a specific date everyone eats there, and then a % (typically 10% of check pretax) of the tab is donated to the benificiary.

Also talk to the bar where you are having the Pre-Dig. Often they will let you do something like that, as well as on a separate night do a 'celebrity bartender' where say one or two of you help out and all the tips that night go to the specific cause.

Wish I could do more. I'll keep picking my brain for ideas for ya.

Outback and Applebee's also do a thing where they will donate proceeds. Not sure of the details. Just a thought.

yes, so does baja fresh / daphne's / panda express - if you have any of those chains.

you make a deal with one or all the nearby locations, and they give you a logo that you slap on a paper, and then hand out to everyone you know - then on that specific day, they bring the flyer in, and it gets attached to your bill and a % goes to named charity.

But!! if you can find a local eatery near their house, you could strike the deal with the establishement, then get the cooler crew in on it - to do the flyers, and go door to door near their house. You would prolly generate a lot of support of the neighbors in the area, who since the restaurant is so close, would be more prone to attend.

not to mention its usually easier to get a mom and pop local establishment to really give in a situation rather than a corp chain.

Mark's funeral is 100% paid for by the Cooler Crew.

Thats awsome!!!

Ditto!

The person getting the money pays the fee usually.

OT- The fee depends on what kind of transaction it is. I'm just going by memory right now though, so I may be wrong. I'll find out tomorrow when I make my donation.

I love you guys. The way you step up to help those in need is nothing short of amazing. Time and time again this family of ours is there to take care of one of it's own. It was refreshing seeing a bunch of you last night and I look forward to seeing you all later today as well.

Nicole - I can only hope that you've had some time to gather some of your sanity by the time you read this thread. I know it meant a lot to me to read it afterwards. Anything to keep your mind from dwelling too long on the sadness that will obviously be plaguing you for some time. But always know that we are here for you as part of your support system. It may be hard but please use us. We may be able to help you more than you think.

Take care of yourself. Katy needs her mommy. Go hug her and say a quiet thank you to Mark while you're at it. Boy did he give you a beauiful daughter. Great job to both of you for your success.

I had to pay a fee for the paypal transaction...but I use a credit card and not my bank account so perhaps that's why.

I used my CC and didn't pay any fee. It's always on the recieving end that you get charged a fee. I use to buy and sell a ton online using paypal and thats the way it's always worked.

I wonder if the type of card has anything to do with it. I don't recall ever getting charged a fee previously, but I used a Discover card and I know their fees are higher than Visa or Mastercard to the vendor.

It wasn't that much anyway. Just interesting.

Ares how do I get in touch with you/Chesty or whomever's at the rudder of this thing?

I used my Anchor Bank card that takes the money directly out of my account. It's what I use for all my Paypal purchases and this was the first time I've been charged. The way it was set up it automatically would have charged the recipient of the money the fee unless I checked a box where I would pay the fee instead, which is what I did. However, this is the first time I've sent money for a service (gift) instead of for a purchase, so maybe that's the difference.

OT - That could be the difference. I don't think I've ever used mine for a gift previously either.

Rob told me about this yesterday. This is just terrible. I wish I could do something but I can't. Financially at this time I am tapped as I have not worked in a year. I'm pretty much on the same page as green. I think this is wonderful what all of you have done to help out with the funeral and expenses. My prayers are with her. The Cooler crew is wonderful for stepping up to the plate!

fortunately as uncoordinated as we are. we're all managing to drive in the same direction

Hmmm... maybe we should form a group for that Medallion Hunt thing in a couple weeks...

I have been sharing Nicole's story: At the Klondike Kate Contest Wednesday and at the Queen's Candidate dinner last night.. while I was unable to get any donations I did get a lot of "contact me if you do a benefit" responses. Something to think about for maybe in the spring.

Kat, I'm farting around with an idea(s) that I'm not ready just yet to post here. I tend to get more neagitve feedback than I do positive. But I've got some noodling going on for laerbin the year that would include...

Would you like to be in the loop? I could use your brain and expertise.

absolutely!!

I was just in the 'Classic' Pioneer Press Medallion board and the '2010 Finder' posted a message about MM that he/she read from the Cooler Crew Site - I threw in my 2 cents and a pat on the back for Yarusso's and Lakeside...

http://forums.twincities.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=kr-tcitiesother&msg=8635.1&ctx=0

One thing I noticed about the story on the Cooler Web Site - it probably wouldn't hurt to list the availability of the "Mark Evenson Memorial Fund" at Wells Fargo - there's going to be a few non-coolers that will probably read it and may want to help.

Wanted to give a bit of an update.

Just got back from the funeral, it was very nice and very well attended. As a matter of logistics for those of you who have given or who have planned to give to the paying for the funeral fund, there's been a change in plans.

Last night a mysterious benefactor called into the funeral home and picked up all of the expenses for the funeral for Mark as well as the processional to the resting place today, which was quite a ways. There are some rumors and conjecture, but at this point, it's rumors and conjecture and there's someone out there who did a great big thing to help the family out.

That being said, we've got a lot of donations given, so Sue and I put our heads together and decided (on your behalf) that we would use the money to pay for Mark's headstone on behalf of the Cooler Crew. Originally they weren't going to have one until money was raised for that on top of everything else, so the anonymous donation is doubly helpful because it allows the money we raised to make a nice living memorial for him as well.

Despite being emotionally empty, when Sue and I pulled Nicole aside and quietly said that the headstone would be taken care of by the Cooler crew and she shouldn't worry about it, she began to cry again. I'd like to think it was of gratitude for the outpouring of caring and concern that you all have shown, and gave her a ray of happiness on an otherwise cold and hard day.

That is truly awesome! I nearly about cried reading about this wonderful deed *someone* came forward with. Their kindness has made (I hope) a huge difference.

I think that is what it is. I knew it was something like that but couldn't put my finger on it.