Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Tis the season!

Even with health insurance, my shoulder surgery has been a stressful financial setback. But I can’t really complain.

Kayaker Katie Hilleke was recently diagnosed with cancer & the related medical costs are really stacking up. I learned about the WW COMMUNITY’S EFFORTS to raise some money to help offset the overwhelming cost burden she & her family must bear. I don’t know Katie, but I do know her brother .. So I offered to send him a framed print of one of my FAVORITE SHOTS from this year, to be auctioned off at a fundraiser benefit party for Katie.

This donation is a total team effort. I work for THIS AMAZING MARKETING FIRM in Seattle. We recently worked with THIS AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER on a studio shoot in Portland. Dylan, the photog, graciously offered to handle the printing & shipping of the photo from his studio in NYC to my AMAZING FRIEND & FRAMER, Rocky, at Full Circle in Jackson, Wyo. Rocky, is also an AMAZING DJ, ARTIST, skater, & ALL-AROUND ATHLETE . He offered to comp the rushed framing & shipping of the finished piece down to Tommy in CO, in time for the benefit party on the 14th. In the end, the job will have taken the image on a bipartisan campaign thu the USofA, from Seattle (blue) to NY (blue) to Wyo (so red) to CO (red), & into the home of a new owner.

So this post is mostly just a huge THANK YOU to Dylan & Rocky for their help in getting this job done .. & to urge y’all to please support Katie by either DONATING or by bidding on this or other items up for auction at the party.



AUCTION INSTRUCTIONS: The auction will be held at the Katie Hilleke fundraiser event in Colorado Spgs on Tues 11/14, but we don't want to exclude folks who can't be there in person. To give everyone a chance to bid on the picture, here is what we'll do. Send an E-mail to MIKE BROWN of the Pikes Peak Whitewater Club at mcbrown44 [at] adelphia [dot] net with your bid. The bids will be updated online, as they are received, and can be viewed HERE.

The highest bid rec'd prior to the 14th will become the starting bid the evening of the 14th. If no one outbids it, then we will contact the highest bidder. The bidder has a choice of payment via check to the Katie Hilleke assistance fund or to use the online payment mechanism set up on the IR site HERE.

The picture will be shipped, at our expense, on verification of donation.

Online bid e-mails must be received by 4pm Mountain Time November 14th to be included.

If you want to bid online, you are at a slight disadvantage as people attending the event will know what they have to beat to buy the picture, but a strong bid can go a long ways to overcome that handicap.


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Also, don’t forget to follow along as we have launched our first contest, Photo Hold’em, a head-to-head photographer shootout in the theme of a poker game. The players have posted their headshots & have endured some verbal abuse from the ruthless dealers (previous post). Next week, Round 2 will pit photog against photog as they play the next “card” in their “hand”. The dealers have gotten a sneak peak at some of the cards & they are spectacular.

... and for the Mac users out there .. there's THIS little software update.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Todd-

Nice pic, but sorry to hear about the cause. I poked around a little bit but couldn't find info on how to bid on the photo. Maybe a more direct link in TRL would be useful.

Good luck, with this and shoulder rehab.

Todd Gillman said...

That's a great point Owen. It's being auctioned off (I think) by the Pikes Peak WW Club. Not sure how they're handling the auction though. Lemme check with Mike & i'll update later.

tg

Anonymous said...

Really nice photo. Thanks so much for helping us out with the auction.

gh

Anonymous said...

This is Katie Hilleke, and I just wanted to say, Thank you SOOOO much for your help! This has been such a tough battle, but the whitewater community has really pulled together for me. I have been through 7 treatments so far, and I have 5 left, and I am doing really well, I think. Your contribution meant so much to me, more than just the valuable financial help, it is so great to have good people behind me going through this. I haven't met you yet, but hopefully I will one day soon on some river somewhere when all this is behind me, and I will be able to thank you in person.

Todd Gillman said...

hi katie, thanks for taking the time to post. i was thinking about you the other day & wanted to call your brother to just ask how you were coming along. so it's really great to hear it from you. stay strong & know that there are so many people who you've never met before who are all thinking about you! this will all be behind you before you know it. & i'll consider it an honor to share an eddy with you then!
best wishes,
t