I was very saddened to get this email last night. Wheelers for the Wounded is a wonderful program, that like so many this year, cannot seem to escape the hard-hitting economy. Please take a moment to read this letter from the founder, Jason, and then follow me over to http://www.wheelersforthewounded.com/index.htm and make a donation. Let's help Jason complete his tour this summer and get back home!!!

First, as some of you may have noticed, I deleted the WFTW MySpace page
the other day. This was a no-brainer. I posted a bulletin on there weeks
back stating the program was dangerously close to ending and some
donations would go a long way. Out of the over 1,550 "friends" on that
page, I received two donations for a few bucks each. Obviously the
MySpace thing was a big waste of time, so I got rid of it.

At any rate, the program is over. I can no longer keep going. I have
less than $300 to my name. Fortunately, the Virginia event host club
raised some funds and paid my Jeep payment for May, otherwise my Jeep
would have been taken by the bank in June. I told you all a few weeks ago
that I had no money to pay for that and I wasn't joking. I'll never be
able to thank them enough.

The nail in the coffin is that I have a bad tooth (molar) that's killing
me and I can't even afford to go to the dentist because I have no
insurance. I sprained my ankle about a month ago and couldn't go to the
doctor because of the same reason. I'm surviving off the cheapest foods I
can find (usually sandwiches and hotdogs). As thin as I was when I began
the trip (6 foot, 155 pounds), I've even lost weight. This is no way to
live. I have to take care of myself and haven't been able to do so.

Currently, I'm staying with a friend in Nevada. This is a very good thing
because it's not costing me anything and he's letting me stay here for a
few more days until I have to drive up to the Rubicon event. By my
estimates I have just enough money for gas for that event. The host of
the Reno event is giving me a free room, and given its close proximity to
the Rubicon event, I might be able to make that one as well. After that,
I won't even have enough gas money to get me back to Florida.

Because of this, I will end the program there and return to my friend's
place where he said I can rent a room from him for cheap. I'll then get
some random job to get me back on my feet and hopefully keep the Jeep from
being repossessed by the bank.

I hope you all know that I did everything I could to keep this going.
I've worked on this program non-stop, every day since February 2007. For
it to have to end early sickens me. I know many of you have put in
numerous hours, so I'm disappointed in myself for letting you all down.
I'm sorry. Despite my failure, I will sleep fine at night because I know
that it was worth the effort. Broke or not, those we honored deserved the
chances I took.

Certainly you all who have events planned may continue them if you so
choose to do so. I know first hand that this program works, so it would
be good if our country's wounded service members could attend an event I
know a lot of them have been looking forward to...only, it will be in
memory of an organization that is no longer up and running.

I'm not writing this email to you all in order to get money from you. I
don't want any. The economy is in shambles, you all have families to
support, and you should put that money towards them rather than trying to
get me from event to event. I never expected any of you to pony up the
cash to keep the program going...I expected corporate America to do that
for us...they chose not to, so it's that's that.

For the rest of today I will be emailing the program's sponsors to let
them know that this is over. I'll then explain it to various other people
who have been helping me out with accomplishing various tasks. I'll then
have to tell my family, as well as explain to them they won't be seeing me
for quite some time yet...not looking forward to that conversation at all.

The last order of business will be the forum and website. I will delete
all the forums sometime around the Reno event, if not before. You all who
still want to take wounded service members out for a weekend of fun don't
really need that forum anyway. As for the website itself, I'll most
likely delete that around the same timeframe. I would just delete it now,
but I want to keep it up a bit longer so that you all who want to continue
with your event will still have a little more exposure. As I've been
doing, I'll keep forwarding you all the emails I get pertaining to people
wanting to attend and/or help out with those events still being planned.

For those of you no longer wanting to hold your planned event, please let
me know and I'll delete it from the schedule ASAP.

Thanks for everything you all have done. If you feel I've let you down, I
apologize...just know that whatever ill will you have towards me for
failing doesn't even hold a candle to the way I feel about myself right
now.

Jason

Oh God that's terrible!!!! Damn... well at least the thing was structured such that the events will still go off, but that really blows. I was looking forward to him coming back to AZ...

I'd like to help. Is he shutting down the sites because of money? I'll host them. I can't throw much money his way (still trying to figure out gas for SedonaFest) but I'll help where I can.

Wow that sucks. Donated what I could.

This is the first I've heard of this program, but having read the 'about' sections of his website and looking at some of the forums on the site, not only is this a great program, but a welcome release for many of our wounded soldiers.

I've made a small donation (what I can afford), but it looks like any help has the chance of extending the program - even if just for a short time. Each additonal soldier touched is priceless.

Miss_Artoo - I am also going to copy this e-mail (with your permission), touch it up with a number of additions regarding the website and the cause and send it to some of the executives I work with. It may take time (it's a large corporation - not very nimble, but effective) and see if they'll do anything regarding sponsorship. No promises here, but it's a worthy cause, and we do a lot with disabled vets already.

Once I see your response that I may take this action, I will - and will keep you updated as I learn more.

Thanks,
Dan

microbe wrote:

I'd like to help. Is he shutting down the sites because of money? I'll host them.

That's what I was thinking... we've got some serious IT types in this crowd. If that's the issue, no problem... Hell, I've even got enough leftover hosting for something like that.

Wow! This SUCKS!!!

Jason is a great guy and I am glad to have had the opportunity to hang out with him a couple of times, not to mention the great stuff Wheelers for the Wounded has done. I will be making a donation to help him out. Thanks for posting this up Heidi!

I also know a little hear and there about hosting and websites, and will help in any way I can with respect to that.

I would contact Jason and see what he wants or needs. I just got the email and am passing it along. I'm not sure what is going on with the website hosting or if he would be interested in perusing corporate help. It sounds to me like he is pretty discouraged so I'm sure he will take what he can get help with...but I'd contact him...I'm just the messenger in this case!

I read his story.....it sounds to me like he's done....regardless of future help.....

And that IS sad......But it does not sound like he is looking for money at this point......

Thank you, I did reach out to Jason this morning.