Planning A Fundraiser For Bryan Stow

I’m lucky. I’m surrounded by a cadre of kind-hearted baseball fans here in the San Francisco Bay Area who care deeply for and are supportive of Bryan Stow, the San Francisco Giants fan who was beaten on Opening Night 2011 in a dimly lit, remote Dodger Stadium parking lot. A short time ago a group of us got to talking and decided we would assist Bryan by holding a fundraiser, to be held after the 2013 season and before Opening Day 2014. This gives us plenty of time to plan something meaningful, safe, appropriate, and we hope, fun to attend. 

We believe these three objectives will help us stay on track. First, we want to ensure people are aware that Bryan’s recovery is an ongoing process, fraught with stops and starts, progress and setbacks, hopes and frustrations. Secondly, we would like to raise funds to assist with the cost of his care. Third, we would like to ensure that a vicious beating of this nature between rival sports fans never reoccurs by cooperating with organizations that help others, especially children, learn how to resolve their differences in an amicable manner. We think it best to hold an inclusive event, with something for every type of attendee, including all ages, budgets and interest in baseball. Here are some of the ideas we’d like to share towards that end.

Batting lead off is one that will prove to be very popular, especially given its low cost. Youngsters enjoy getting baseball cards of their heroes, and we have just the ticket. Imagine a large wheel, just like the one used in the TV quiz show “Wheel of Fortune.” In order to spin the wheel, a parent or guardian will pay a moderate fee, such as $ 3.00 (subject to change). The wheel will have a different player’s name written on each sliver. Youngsters will receive a card of the player named on whatever sliver the wheel stops. There are a number of baseball card traders and collectors who are already assisting us, some of whom have already donated cards to our cause. In the box shown on the right, the column on the left has cards sorted by player or year. The column to the right of it has Giants still to be sorted. The two columns on the right, and three more full boxes like this one, contain cards to trade with other collectors for more Giants cards.

A major part of our event will be a silent raffle, aimed at mid-range ($50 to $500) and high-end budgets ($500 and up). We want to attract serious Giants fans as well as those for whom baseball is perhaps a once a season casual affair by including both Giants related and general interest items in the silent raffle.

We’ve discovered that artists who love baseball will play a large role for us. We are going to ask artists to donate original works of past and present Giants players, coaches and managers from the San Francisco era of the franchise, in whatever medium they choose. We already have two committed artists. Nidhi Chanani’s charming work appears below. She will donate a painting just like the one below, with the winning bidder and a companion to be painted into the scene in lieu of the happy couple presently featured. Gifted artist Omar Salinas, a Giants fan who breathes orange and black, will be donating a painting of his all-time favorite player, Will Clark. A recent example of his work, the Panda himself, appears just below Nidhi’s.

Another idea is to conduct a Giants Trivia Contest, with a team division (three or four players per team) and an individual division, with each being charged an appropriate entry fee of an amount to be determined later. One option for us to consider is to hold a tournament, similar to college basketball’s March Madness or baseball’s playoffs. This will attract many Giants fans and help bring attention to both our cause and event. We will hold a number of rounds sufficient to include all entrants. The timing will be such that the “finals” will be held during our Event. We will try to get a celebrity host as well. Perhaps we can ask those authors who have written books on the Giants to write some of the questions.

Yet another possibility, which we believe will be on the high-end, will be “A Game With,” where the winning bidder receives a luxury box for a key Giants home game. Included in the winning bid will be food, beverages, and in a unique twist, a well-known retired player or manager to discuss the game, provide insights about strategic moves and tell stories if the game is a blowout.

On the general, non-baseball side, Dee Callahan, a member of Bryan’s Brigade in addition to being a gifted photographer, poet and artist, will donate a copy of her “Deep Blue Moon” painting, currently hanging in the Arizona State Capitol Building. We are thankful and thrilled that Ms. Callahan has already joined us. We hope her contribution is the first in what we believe will be a strong lineup of fine works of art for our silent auction. We’re sure a number of people will like and bid on this work, as well as the ones that will follow it.

We will also approach some our city’s finer hotels and restaurants to request weekend getaway packages, such as ones that may include any combination of a beautiful luxury suite, massage therapy, facials, access to the swimming pool, sauna, and meals. We strongly believe many of them will make donations. Among our organizing committee are several individuals who have spent decades in the hospitality industry. They enjoy long-standing relationships with hotel managers with vast experience in holding large events of the type we currently envision. Perhaps a Convention Services or Banquet Manager will be able to pull a large ballroom out of the ether for our use as well.

We understand there is an elevator that goes to the very top of the Golden Gate Bridge. We’re certain that some adventurous souls, for whom extreme heights do not pose a problem, will want to place a bid on what may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to view our beautiful bay from this lofty perch.

Everything in this post is subject to comment, review and change. We need your input and ideas. This post is in many ways the result of several brainstorming sessions. It could be that we have a great number of fundraising ideas on hand that could be rolled out or conducted at varying points of time in the future. We realize there are advantages to holding a variety of events intermittently rather than just one very large one. We’re hoping to attract a great many kind individuals from across the board, whether they be Giants fans, fans of other teams or non-baseball fans. We hope some volunteers step to the plate and help us move forward.

Here are some of the people who have already committed to the project:

Artists: Nidhi Chanani, Omar Salinas, Dee Callahan, Kathy O’Neil.

Baseball Card Stores: Diamond Sports Cards, San Rafael.

Baseball Card Collectors Who Have Donated Giants Baseball Cards: Bill Miller (The On Deck Circle Blog); Chris Thompson (Berea, Ohio); Corey Camasso (NEPA Sports Cards, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); David Rubin (Los Angeles); Baseball Card Trade & Auction Facebook Group; Eric Fennessy (Ixonia, Wisconsin); Mike Augusto (Pierson, Florida).

Bryan’s Brigade: Dee Callahan; Patty Blylevan (reaching out to donors, journalists and baseball team executives); Patti Thatcher.

Baseball Blogger’s Alliance: Bill Ivie, President, Baseball Blogger’s Alliance.

Related Groups: Fans Against Violence, Kathy Samoun, San Rafael, CA; Minnesota Twins Fans in Support of Bryan Stow; Oakland A’s Fans For Bryan Stow; Mets Fans in Support of Bryan Stow.

Podcasters: Bill Ivie Productions; Mets Musings podcast (Gary Mack); Conversations With C70 podcast (Daniel Shoptaw).    

If you have any ideas or would like to join us, please either leave a comment or send an email to grubbyglove@gmail.com. Thank you!