Peanut Butter & Shelley: Fundraiser for a Friend

Team SideQuesting would be nowhere without the support of our friends, so we take every opportunity to help back.  Such is the case with long time JPAG (Joystiq Podcast Appreciation group) friend and supporter Randall Smith, who’s wife is in need of some medical attention at the moment, requiring her to be under care in Atlanta.  For those who know anything about hospitals, the cost can be hefty.

The cost of the care is about $10,500, so anything we can do to put a considerable dent in it would be a blessing. That’s where Randall and family need our help.  We’ll be hosting a live internet-a-thon for this Saturday, May 21st from 2-6PM Central Time.  Watch/listen HERE on Ustream: Ustream Link. During the telethon we’ll be raffling off some terrific prizes to those who’ve donated specific levels of cash, so bid early and often! (More info about how below).

Here’s the Facebook Event Page

Here’s what you can do:

  • Donate.  Every little bit of money helps.  Send all donations through https://www.paypal.com/ to: jpaganimalrescue@gmail.com
  • Donate prizes to be raffled off.  Contact me, Wesley Johnson or Randall Smith, or email me via dali@sidequesting.com. You don’t have to ship the prizes before the event, just your word on what the prizes will be.
  • We’ve already got a giant list of prizes, so please take a look and let us know what you can donate, if not monetary funds.  All of these prizes will be won during the live show, and mailed to the winners afterwards when ready.
  • Mention it on Facebook and Twitter, Retweet it, and use the hashtag #pbshelley11

Please read the full post below, and join the event page to stay up to date.

***ALL TIMES LISTED ARE CENTRAL STANDARD TIME*** *** CLICK SEE MORE FOR RAFFLE/EVENT DETAILS***
Send all donations through https://www.paypal.com/ to:

jpaganimalrescue@gmail.com

Or just use the “donate” tab at http://jpag.co/

(Donations will be accepted any time before, during, or after the event.)

It’s that time again, folks. Time to dig deep and help a fellow JPAGer in need. Specifically, one Randall Smith, who’s been put into a bit of bind with medical bills and such. Well, I’ll just let him explain the details:

“So, peeps of good heart, let me fill you in on this here need. Warning: some of this is not fun reading, so don’t feel bad if you stop partway through. Please note that the following is shared with Shelley’s permission and her review.

YE SCOOPE:

My wife Shelley suffers from a peculiar mood ailment the name of which rhymes with “fly bowler swiss border” type 2. She has lived with it since childhood, but was only diagnosed a few years ago. Although she has had several severe extended bouts of depression over the years, the manic element was much more fleeting and could usually be handled with a combination of TLC, rest, and whatever prescription her doctor gave her.

In the last several months, however, the manic side has come out with a roar, and is only containable with certain very strong prescriptions. The manic stuff is symptomatic of the illness, though, and not of my sweet wife; when she comes out of it she is invariably mortified, not to mention exhausted. I treat the whole thing just as I phrased it: an aspect of illness rather than my wife’s true personality.

Two weeks ago, she suffered a bout so intense that my in-laws flew in to help out. She ended up hospitalized for a couple days in what is known to be the worst psych ward in Chicago. There were simply no beds anywhere else.

She has undergone a few more such episodes in the past several days, and tomorrow she will be leaving for Atlanta, where she will enter the residential care program at a great facility. Originally we thought she’d be there 1-2 months, but after her intake interview, it was determined that she would likely need to stay 12-16 weeks.

Insurance covers some but not all of the expenses. As in, every week she’s there costs $1500 out of pocket. They want at least two months of the out-of-pocket expenses paid upon admission. In other words, they want 10.5 grand up front. And that only covers the first two months, sans medication or multiple weekly doctor sessions. After that, we have to scrape the skrilla to pay for months 3 and 4 (assuming it lasts 16 weeks). So I’m looking at a serious four months of scrimping and then taking on massive debt.”

So, give, won’t you? You’ll not only be helping out maybe the best people, but also winning prizes! (see below)

***FUNDRAISER RAFFLE RULES***

Bonus Prizes:

– EVERY person who donates will receive a Peanut Butter and Shelley themed wallpaper for their device of choice (iPhone, Android, PC, or Mac).
– The first (15) donors who give $100 or more will receive a custom wallpaper for their device of choice (iPhone, Android, PC, or Mac) designed by Justin Russo.
– After all prizes have been awarded, (10) donors will be drawn at random to receive videogame themed buttons created by Mike Wall of Armless Octopus, with priority given to those who have not already won a prize.
– (1) randomly chosen donor will also win a custom Bob Ball voicemail away message.

Hourly Raffles and Prize Packs:

Raffles will occur at the end of each hour of the event as indicated below. In order to be entered to win one of the HOURLY raffle prizes you must donate a MINIMUM of $5. (1) raffle entry = $5, so the more you give during that hour, the greater your chances of winning. Please note that this does not mean you need to donate $5 at a time; whatever amount you decide to give will be converted to a number of raffle tickets equal to 1 ticket for every $5 donated. So, $20 at once = 4 tickets, $50 at once = 10 tickets, etc.

Grand Prize:

Every donor who gives a minimum of $5 either before or during the event is entered into the drawing for the grand prize. Again, more money donated = more chances to win.

**PLEASE NOTE** Shipping of all prizes donated is the sole responsibility of the donor of said prize.

>3pm Drawing<

1. Where’s Falcone Pack: (1) DVD copy of “Batman: Under the Hood,” “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm/Batman SubZero,” and “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” PLUS the Batman: The Long Halloween (Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale) and Batman: The Heart of the Hush (Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen, and Derek Fridolfs) comic books AND (1) copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum (360).
–Donated by Jon Wagner and Mike Wehner

2. Art Appreciation Pack:
[4 winners] (1) gray Big Daddy print
[1 winner] (1) gray Big Daddy print, (1) Ghostbusters Slimer print, and (1) Halo “Survive” screenprint 10”x12”
–Donated by Justin Russo and Mike Mancuso (SixtyBones Press)

3. Military Pack: (1) military hoodie, Tristan the Marine’s original Marine boot camp hat (autographed by the man himself) [*NOTE* Hat is meant for display only. It is illegal for non-military to wear it in public.], (1) CoD: Modern Warfare 2 official Xbox LIVE promo t-shirt (size M), (1) CoD: Black Ops WITH Clasic Zombie Maps, First Strike AND Escalation DLC (360).
— Donated by Tristan Morris (Tristan the Marine), Steven Eyre, and EJ Alcantara

4. #Swag Pack:
[1 winner] (1) comic, CD, book, poster, and action figure bundle
[1 winner] (1) comic, CD, book, poster, and action figure bundle PLUS (1) Mortal Kombat t-shirt (size XL), (1) deck of Fallout: New Vegas playing cards, and (1) Little Big Planet stuffed Sackboy
–Donated by Jarret Green and Andrew Pflaum

5. Ben Pack/Back Pack Pack: (1) copy of Fallout: New Vegas (360), (1) copy of Bioshock/Oblivion Dual Pack (360) [signed by Ben Pack], (1) copy of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (360)
— Donated by Ben Ben Pack Pack and Aaron Kirchhoff

6. Literate Pack: (1) copy of “Daemon” by Daniel Suarez, (1) copy of “Bossypants” by Tina Fey, (1) copy of “Everything Bad is Good for You” by Steven Johnson, and (1) copy of “Veins” by Drew (of Toothpaste for Dinner Fame, signed by the author [No.56 of only 100 in existence!]).
— Donated by Clayton Ashley, Holly Attesi, and Michael Bachmann

7. I’m Tho Thorry Pack:
[3 winners] (1) copy of Thor (choice of 360, PS3, or Wii – 1st draw receives first choice, 2nd and 3rd draws choose in their respective places)
–Donated by Justin McElroy

>4pm Drawing<

8. Dark-ish Pack: (1) copy of Dark Sector (360), (1) copy of Darksiders (360), (1) copy of The Darkness (360), and (1) copy of Bioshock 2 (360).
— Donated by Dali Dimovski

9. Illiterate Pack: (1) DVD copy of The Office (US) seasons 1-5, (1) DVD copy of The Room, (1) DVD copy of Green Lantern: First Flight, and (1) DVD copy of Justice League: Crisis on 2 Earths.
— Donated by Jarret Green, Alan Black, and Bob Ball

10. Family Friendly Pack: (1) copy of Dreamcast Collection (360) and (1) copy of Rio (360).
–Donated by Justin McElroy

11. GOTY Pack: (1) copy of Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (360) and (1) copy of Nier (360).
— Donated by Mike Wehner and Aaron Kirchhoff

12. Crafty Pack:
[2 winners] (1) item from http://www.etsy.com/shop/eightbitknits PLUS (1) hand painted 30mm Resident Evil miniature figurine – choice between Jill Valentine OR Ada Wong (1st draw chooses first, 2nd draw receives other figurine)
— Donated by Randi-Mae Clayton, Armless Octopus, and Randall Smith

13. PS3 Pack: (1) copy of White Knight Chronicles (PS3), (1) copy of Vanquish (PS3), and (1) copy of Gran Turismo 5.
— Donated by Jeffrey Abt and Andrew Pflaum

14. JPAG Loyalist Pack:
[4 winners] (1) DVD copy of MBMBaM + PAX East video
[1 winner] (1) DVD copy of MBMBaM + PAX East video, (1) JPxSG (Joystiq Podcast x Space Ghost) compilation DVD, and (1) custom Alan Black photoshop
— Donated by Michael Bachmann, Danny Lujan, and Alan Black

>5pm Drawing<

15. PC Pack:
[1 winner] (1) copy of Star Trek Online (PC), (1) copy of Bioshock (PC), (1) copy of Magicka (PC), and (1) Wrath of the Lich King official promo shirt (size XL).
[1 winner] (1) copy of Magicka (PC) and (1) copy of Plants vs. Zombies (PC).
— Donated by Armless Octopus, Kyle Baker, Royce Rogers, Steven Eyre, Clayton Ashley, and Jarret Green

16. Tabletop Pack: (1) Pandemic: The Board Game and (1) Bag of Holding.
— Donated by Andrew Pflaum and Holly Attesi

17. Auto Enthusiast Pack: (1) copy of Nascar 2011 (360), (1) copy of Mayhem (360), and (1) copy of MX vs ATV Alive (PS3).
–Donated by Justin McElroy

18. Retro Pack: (1) copy of Adventure Island 1, 2, and 3 (NES), (2) single day passes to the Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookefield, IL., (1) Hodge “Atari 1981” print, (1) Hodge “Colecovision 1980” print, and (1) “NES 3D Port” print.
–Donated by Michael Bachmann, Justin Russo, and Mike Mancuso (SixtyBones Press)

19. You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out Pack: (1) copy of Mass Effect 2 (360), (1) copy of Lost Planet (360), (1) copy of FEAR (360), (1) Blacklight:Tango Down dog tag with unlockable “weapon tag or other prize”, (1) APB t-shirt, (1) CoD: Black Ops T-shirt
— Donated by Kyle Baker, Aaron Kirchhoff, and Richard Elliott

20. Audiophile Pack: (1) The Otto Modest download code, stickers, and t-shirt pack AND DJ Hero 2 w/ Turntable bundle (360).
— Donated by Jarrett Green and Dali Dimovski

21. Halo (and friends) Pack: (1) copy of Halo Reach: Limited Edition, (1) Halo “Survive” 10”x12” screenprint, (1) Halo “Survive” t-shirt (size M), (1) redeem code for all Gears of War 2: GOTY Edition DLC (360).
– Donated by Andrew Pflaum, Mike Mancuso (SixtyBones Press), and Richard Elliott

>GRAND PRIZE DRAWING (5pm)<

22. Them’s Fightin’ Words Pack (Grand Prize Pack 1): (1) Fullgore Killer Instinct t-shirt, (1) copy of WWE Allstars (Wii) and THE Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group Joystiq forged in the fires of Randall Smith’s home.
— Donated by Richard Elliott and Jonah Gregory

23. Ultrastiq Games Pack (Grand Prize Pack 2): (1) Crysis bluetooth headset, (1) copy of Yoostar 2 (PS3), (1) copy of Brink (PS3), (1) copy of LA Noire (winner chooses 360 or PS3), and (1) “weird” F3AR (Fear 3) photoshop of Justin “Hoops” McElroy, the father of modern games journalism.
–Donated by Justin McElroy and Aaron Kirchhoff