Keep Alan Knappenburger in your thoughts

[Foo]

Do ya'll think we could organize a spring event for Alan along the same lines? If we do it right, we could raise a good sum that could go for the family's needs and medical bills.

I agree with Missdirected that an immediate fund is the first step- but I do like Guba's idea also. Let's establish quick $ first- then maybe look into a fundraiser- I'm praying that Alan will be there with us by springtime- as honoree. He's a tough guy, he's gonna make it through this by the grace of God.

 

[Willie]

I just spoke with one of the nurses and confirmed that Alan is still in ICU and cant receive anything right now. I left a message for Bonnie that there were a lot of us down here praying for them and that we wanted to send something as soon as Alan was in a room and could receive items. I asked that she keep in touch with Frank and he could keep us all up to date. I hope that is alright with you Frank.

Here is the address of the hospital.

Saint Mary's Hospital
1216 Second St SW.
Rochester, MN 55902

They told me he cant receive any flowers right now, but maybe he can receive cards. I am going to give it a try.

Willie

 

[Guba]

Just to be clear, I am in hearty agreement about trying to meet the immediate needs (my check is already made out and it'll go off as soon as I know where to send it). I offered the fundraising idea only because I know there will be long standing bills after a crushing injury such as this. I can't even imagine the situation with multiple victims in the same family...
And I'm with Foo on this...it'll be great to have Alan there to share a day of diving (whether he gets in the water or not) with his TSD friends as he is recovering, and I'm placing my faith in God that we'll all be doing exactly that...greeting Alan back to the diving community that cares for him so much.

 

[k-valve]

There are some pretty big differences between using PayPal for the fund or depositing the money with a bank. Depositing funds to PayPal is simple and quick for us, but they also take a percentage of every dollar sent which will result in less $ for Alan's family. Using a bank works too. It will be a little more difficult to get the money to the bank, but they won't take a percentage of the deposit.

Also, money in a PayPal acct is generally harder to spend on things besides eBay items. You can get a debit card, but there is a fee from PayPal when you use it. Those guys have more fees than even the worst banks.

IMHO a bank would be the best choice simply because it would be easier for the family to access the money and there would be less fees associated with it.

 

[ReefHound]

Folks, I have another idea. I agree that we should do whatever we can to meet immediate needs, but we could also think about some longer range goals. Every year, there is an event at CSSP called Dive From the Heart, benefitting DFW area children's hospitals. There are donated prizes, a treasure hunt, etc...
Do ya'll think we could organize a spring event for Alan along the same lines? If we do it right, we could raise a good sum that could go for the family's needs and medical bills.

The only issue I have with that particular idea is that while Alan is our friend, this accident is still a very personal matter. Would he want that? From what I know of him, he is a modest person who was reluctant to even discuss it when he rescued someone at CSSP a few years ago. IF he is OK with it, I would be in full support of it.

 

[Debraw]

Well the best I can do right now with limited information is just offer up my PayPal account for deposits and you can earmark Alan Knappenberger in the information box. Once we get the bank account going we can just stop the paypal and then move on to the bank account. I will pick up all the fees that are associated with using the PayPal account for donations as my donation.

debrawelch697@gmail.com

Alan, of course, will be very humble and say he doesn't need it but in reality he does. He already has a son with significant health issues even before all this happened and he also takes care of elderly parents. I swear I use to wonder how he did as much as he did with only 24 hours in a day. His one huge stress reliever was scuba diving.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

Well the best I can do right now with limited information is just offer up my PayPal account for deposits and you can earmark Alan Knappenberger in the information box. Once we get the bank account going we can just stop the paypal and then move on to the bank account. I will pick up all the fees that are associated with using the PayPal account for donations as my donation.

debrawelch697@gmail.com

Alan, of course, will be very humble and say he doesn't need it but in reality he does. He already has a son with significant health issues even before all this happened and he also takes care of elderly parents. I swear I use to wonder how he did as much as he did with only 24 hours in a day. His one huge stress reliever was scuba diving.

Funds sent. Thanks for stepping up and handling this.

 

[Debraw]

My pleasure, now I do not feel quite so helpless and I know it makes everyone else feel better if we can do something.

 

[Guba]

I'm in absolute agreement, ReefHound

I may have missed it in previous posts...does anyone have the contact information for the church Alan attends? I'd like to make contact there, too, if possible.

 

[Debraw]

Actually only Bonnie attends the church, Alan does not. I believe he attends the church of the underwater sirens.....