In other words: Yes, Erin is going to shake you down for money to help gunnies in need.
I'm a bit late in writing about this due to my own already-mentioned family medical issues, but hopefully I can help boost the signal to those who wouldn't ordinarily see it.
First off, Erik and Sabra (yes, THAT Sabra) Onstott are in a bad place right now. Sabra is pregnant and their baby has been diagnosed with a truly awful disorder called Limb-Body Wall Complex. I'm not going to go into graphic detail, but yes, it's as horrible as you imagine it is; official medical literature describes the condition as "incompatible with life." More information can be found in Erik's post here, or if you really want your heart to break you can read their pregnancy blog, but the short version is that they're going to bring their child (whom they have given the gender-neutral name Psalm-Angel) to term so that, hopefully, they can hold their baby in their arms and say goodbye.
Sabra is due to deliver sometime between mid-August and September, and instead of getting ready to celebrate a birth, they're having to plan a funeral for a baby.
Is it suddenly dusty around your computer? Yeah, mine too.
But wait, it gets WORSE: their landlord has given them 30 days notice and is kicking them out of their home, so now they have to find a new place to live by July 7.
Oh, and their car needs repairs as well. Erik has the parts, he just doesn't know how to install them so he can have a functioning car for this whole "moving and a funeral thing."
So here is how you can help:
- If you live in or near San Antonio, or have contacts there, please help the Onstotts with
- finding a place to live,
- repairing their car,
- planning Psalm-Angel's funeral.
- If you have the skills to help them directly (such as by being a mechanic, a real estate agent, or a funeral director), so much the better.
- If possible, please donate at their YouCaring page. They have set a very modest goal of $3,500 (too modest, if you ask me) -- I call upon all gunnies to blow the fuck out of that total by giving at least twice that. Personally, I think we can give them an easy $10k.
- Boost this signal wherever you can: On your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter. Wherever you have social media presence, you talk about their situation and you link to their YouCaring page.
- Pray for them. I have specifically asked and, yes, non-Christian prayers are just as welcome.
- If you would like to contact Erik directly (to help out, offer moral support, etc), you can email him at Erik dot onstott at sbcglobal dot net.
Now that I've gotten you in the spirit of giving, will you also consider helping out Tin Can Assassin as well? Fortunately no one is dying, but his wife has taken his daughter and fled to another state.
TCA needs help with legal fees, as not only does he need to fight a TRO (no doubt filed as leverage), he also needs to hire a good divorce lawyer so that his daughter isn't removed from his life. (For more details go here; I can also corroborate the fact that if you send him an email, he will answer any questions you have.)
TCA doesn't have a GoFundMe or YouCaring page because, in his own words, "I don't want to shame my wife the way she's shamed me." So far he's managed to raise $558 for his legal fees, and will need somewhere between an estimated $1300 and $2900 to pay the legal fees.
How you can help:
- If you have any money left over, please donate via PayPal to donovan_dion_oblsb AT yahoo DOT com, so that a wrongly accused man can get his life back in order and continue to see his daughter.
- Prayers and well-wishes are also welcome.
I thank you all, in advance, for all the help you're going to give to these two deserving causes. And no, you don't have to be a gunnie to help (It's not my intention to exclude anyone!) -- I just thought that "Gunnies Helping Gunnies" was catchy.
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