In The Wake of Katrina...Need Your Help

(wakeworld) · (wakeworld) **Join Date: Jan 1997** 09-02-2005, 1:03 PM

I just sent this out to as many industry people as I have in my address book, but if you work for a company or know somebody that can help out with this effort, please get in touch with me. As wakeboarders, let's do what we can to help!

The wakeboarding industry has always been there when we do our annual Toys for Tots auction (http://www.wakeworld.com/contests/2004/toysfortots1.asp) during the Christmas season and we thank you all for that!! Now we turn on our TV's every day to see a national tragedy greater than any that most of us can remember. Hurricane Katrina has devastated the southern United States and WakeWorld is looking for a way to help. At the risk of going to the well too often, we ask for your help in this time of need for many helpless families in this completely devastated region.

WakeWorld will be running an online auction of donated items from companies like yours in order to generate money to help out Hurricane Katrina survivors. 100% Of the proceeds from these auctions will go to the American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org). We're asking you to put together of package of wake-related goods and make them available to the highest bidder in each auction.

During the month of August, WakeWorld had over 4 million pages viewed by over 228,000 unique visitors. It is our goal to leverage this incredible number of avid wakeboarders in order to generate as much money as possible for relief efforts. The auctions will start on Monday, September 12 and run for at least a week, depending on how much support we get from the wakeboard industry.

All donations and sponsors will be featured on WakeWorld throughout the auctions and for many months afterward as we run ads to bring attention to the generosity displayed by the sponsors. Press releases will go out to the major wakeboarding magazines featuring the names of all sponsors as well.

If your company is interested in making an auction item or a package of items available, please reply to gobig@wakeworld.com with the details of what products are contained in the package, images of the products and your company logo. You will not need to ship anything out until the bidding is over and we provide you with the winner bidder's address. Especially valuable would be 2006 or autographed products or other items that may not be available to the general public at this time. Items like these often garner bids that exceed their MSRP.

Thank you for your consideration and please let me know if you have any questions.

(wakeworld) · (wakeworld) **Join Date: Jan 1997** 09-02-2005, 3:25 PM

Within about 15 minutes of sending out this email, I heard from Shaun Murray of The Boarding School, Tony Finn of Liquid Force, Greg Nelson of Boarders Paradise, Ben Ludlow of O'Brien, Jeff Page of Inland Surfer, Eric Solheim of Cire Boardwear and Jason Bingham of Wake Boarding magazine, all of whom want to get involved in a very big way!!!

This industry rules!!! Look for more details next week. You'll be able to get some screaming deals in these auctions.

(wakeriderixi) · (wakeriderixi) **Join Date: Jan 2004** 09-02-2005, 3:32 PM

Right On!

(lizrd) · (lizrd) **Join Date: Jul 2002** 09-02-2005, 3:52 PM

Thanks, Dave!

(isler) · (isler) **Join Date: Apr 2003** 09-02-2005, 4:04 PM

I just spoke to Dave, and will be donating a package of images in support of this cause. Stay tuned for details...

Mike Isler
Isler Photo Inc.
www.islerphoto.com

mile_high_rider 09-02-2005, 11:22 PM

The restaurant were I work in Denver, "Z cusine french bistro" will be donating half of our profits to Red cross. Its about all we can do, but I would gladley do it twice.

(driving) · (driving) **Join Date: Jan 2003** 09-03-2005, 5:42 AM

Yes, Shaun Murray and I, from THE BOARDING SCHOOL, donated a week at the camp. I hope everyone gets involved in this. Every time I turn on the news it seems worse. The devastation is mind boggling.

(teamvaldez) · (teamvaldez) **Join Date: Apr 2003** 09-03-2005, 12:53 PM

You guys are all awesome and we are proud to be apart of this great group of people. Thank you so much!

(buzz_grande) · (buzz_grande) **Join Date: Mar 2004** 09-03-2005, 5:59 PM

Dave,

You and all of those you mentioned are awesome!

I am doing my part, and donating my girlfriend. She leaves for Lousiana in about 5 days, and will be there for a couple weeks. She is heading up a group taking part in animal rescues in the area. You hear a bunch about the people, but there are hundreds, if not thousands of displaced animals to help out.

Best I can do for now.

Keep up the great work.

(lukewtwt) · (lukewtwt) **Join Date: Apr 2003** 09-06-2005, 7:51 AM

This is something everyone can and should get behind. Dave, how about allowing people who can't afford to bid make a small donation to a PayPal account? This way every little bit can help.

(wakeworld) · (wakeworld) **Join Date: Jan 1997** 09-06-2005, 5:21 PM

Luke, that's a great idea, but it's probably best just to go to http://www.redcross.org and make it directly to their PayPal account. That will avoid some fees and make sure the most possible money gets to the survivors.

(wakeworld) · (wakeworld) **Join Date: Jan 1997** 09-06-2005, 5:38 PM

The support from the wake industry continues. Please take note of the people and companies that are helping out. Without them, this would not be possible!!

JD Webb will be donating one of the Gibson Epiphone guitars that he won for winning a Jr. Men event back in 2002. CWB has stepped up by having Zane, Andrew and Trevor each autograph one of their pro models and make it available, Boarders Paradise has not only kicked in some product, but they are working on getting a wakeboard boat for us to auction off!

Perfect Pass has kicked in a full Wakeboard Pro system. Photographer Mike Isler is going way out of his way to have three 16x20 wakeboarding gallery-quality prints mounted and shipped. KC Watersports has provided a season pass to their cable park.

We've also gotten donations from Malibu Boats, Correct Craft, Got River?, Boardstock, Barry Vaught, Ten-80, Wake Products, The Book DVD and others keep rolling in.

Thanks to everybody for their support. Stay tuned for auction details!

(crracer) · (crracer) **Join Date: Nov 2003** 09-06-2005, 8:57 PM

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you in the industry for keeping it real and donating all of this awesome stuff. My family and I have donated money to redcross and some other organizations. This is exactly what we need to keep doing if we want to make an impact. Looking forward to the auction thanks again and way to go Dave.

(kraig) · (kraig) **Join Date: Dec 2002** 09-07-2005, 10:09 PM

I was very impressed with this idea when you first posted it on here David. I'll definitely be bidding to win. Win Win situation!!! I will not be looking at this from the standpoint on how much the equipment is worth. Let it get high, it's my way to donate and I get some new equipment out of it! This is so a Win Win situation for me and the victims of the Hurricane!

Good Luck to us all in the bidding......

(yeah_bud) · (yeah_bud) **Join Date: Jun 2003** 09-17-2005, 1:42 PM

Thank you so much for your support to the Gulf Coast! I know that many of you Floridians are still dealing with storm damage from last year. In fact, I spoke with a family at a relief station today that was volunteering from Milton FL. They were still living in a camper since Ivan took there home. I live about 1/4 mile from the beach in Ocean Springs, MS. My home received about 6 inches of water in it, but my wife and I are very blessed. My house used to be the 6th house on the left, now it’s the 2nd. Hundreds of homes in my neighborhood are now slabs. The sad thing is that only about 2 out of 10 of the homes had flood insurance because they were nowhere near a flood zone. FEMA says they will only pay a maximum of $25,600 dollars. That is not much for someone that has a $160,000 dollar mortgage and a slab. Many local churches here now look like little tent towns while the people without homes are waiting on FEMA trailers. It has been humbling to watch people like yourselves helping out.

I just wanted to say Thank You and God Bless.

P.S WTWT crew hope all went well with your Families in Hattiesburg.

(centralcali) · (centralcali) **Join Date: Jan 2005** 09-17-2005, 10:10 PM

David-
It's the 17th...are you getting close to starting the auction?

(wakeworld) · (wakeworld) **Join Date: Jan 1997** 09-22-2005, 4:31 PM

Trevor, we got so many donations that it took longer than expected to get the auctions set up. Plus, I had to go to Orlando last weekend for Surf Expo. Anyway, we finally got the first round of auctions up and running yesterday. Go to http://www.wakeworld.com/contests/2005/katrina2.asp for a full list of items open for bid. Thanks for your help!

(wakeworld) · (wakeworld) **Join Date: Jan 1997** 09-22-2005, 4:32 PM

The first auction has been running for a little more than one day and we have already generated over $5,000 for Hurricane Katrina victims. Well done everybody!!