OT: Status Update on Mike Kelly’s Kids - Thank You Everyone

70ToppsFanatic

Just received a holiday card and some photos from Mike’s family that need to be shared with the board.

As many know, Mike was one of our members who sadly passed away a few years ago, and 3 years after the death of his wife. He left 3 young children who now live with his mother and her husband.

The generosity of the members of this forum and of PSA to his family was incredible. We did two fundraising auctions that enabled the family to expand Mike”s mothers house so that it could fit all of them, and to purchase a larger vehicle so that they could get around together in a single car.

The fundraiser auction threads are still here on the forum for those who missed it or wish to look back on what we accomplished.

The photos below give you some idea of the impact that we made, and how the kids are doing. Their grandmother and her husband have them in a loving, safe home. They are involved in school, extra carricular activities and their community. They take affordable vacations and build fun memories. It’s what it should be.

I am passing on to all of you their sincere and heartfelt thanks and gratitude. Those of you who were a part of this are special people. You have the Kelly’s and my best wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy and happy new year.

As the SMR article a few years ago about Mike’s experience as a member of this forum, you all turned a forum into a family!

Well done!

lahmejoon

Thanks, Dave, for passing this along.

bcubs

Awesome to see such an impact made by the collecting community!

BaltimoreYankee

OK I don't usually get teary but....

I was just thinking recently of Mike and wondering how the kids were doing. Thanks, Dave, for the update. I'm glad we were all able to have a positive impact on this family.

Tibor

Is there somewhere where I can send some money?

maddux69

Thank you for the update, great to hear they are doing well. Is it possible to have another fundraiser auction? I am sure as the kids get older and of driving age that expenses will continue to increase.

KendallCat

Dave - thank you for sharing and remember when you did the fundraiser for the family. Great to see they are doing ok, and I echo the sentiments by Jason if we can do another one for them. Of course today we have GoFundMe which makes it simple to do, and would like to help out again if possible.

KC

Tibor

If you decide to go with GoFundMe then ask Heather for assistance.
She was a great deal of help when we raised funds for a forum member
in Dec. Heather is one of the mods. the U.S. Coin Forum.

grote15

Great to see the kids are doing well. Thanks for posting this follow up, Dave!

70ToppsFanatic

Jason and Keith. If we can get enough people willing to donate significant items that we can auction off I am sure that I can convince Mike Rothstein to help me run another auction. We already used a site like GoFundMe to do the last two auctions, so I am sure we can go back in that direction again since Mike’s mom is familiar with how that was done.

Tibor, that is very generous of you. If you want to send something we can either wait until we get “Auction 3” going and you can just send it to the site, or you can PM me and I can help you get it to them.

If we are doing an auction I’d like to suggest that people donate items (or a lot if several items) worth $50 or more so we can start all bids at $50. In the past we have had some pretty awesome donations, for example:

Topps Joe Montana RC PSA 9
Topps 1984 Michigan Wax Box
Topps 1970 Wax Pack - PSA 8 I think
Beautiful homemade wood slabbed card storage box
A bunch of the “cards that never were” and a gold collectors club membership donated by PSA.

And so many other incredibly generous items that i don’t remember off the top of my head (not trying to slight anyone who donated...I honestly just don’t have that kind of mental recall anymore so I will have to go back and find the threads and post their links here)

Between the 2 auctions we raised between $15k - $22k as I recall. I think we had about 50 or so lots each time. I’ll check the old threads and get the exact details.

We ran the auction in this thread and just posted bids to the thread. Then when we ended it we all paid our winning bids to the fund raising site and the person who donated it was notified by Mike/myself to ship the item to the winner.

If people want to do this post what you would be willing to donate in this thread. If we get enough donations then I’m up for another auction.

MantleFan23

Dave,

This is so great to hear that the kids are doing well and how our community was able to come together. I met Mike once at a Sun Times show (he may have been set up with you, I believe). Anyhow, we had a great conversation and he offered me a tremendous discount on an unopened item just because I was a CU member. I'll never forget that.

Jeremy

samspop

I was able to meet Mike and have a couple of guy trips with him before he passed. He was as wide open as anyone you will ever meet and just as generous. I will always have fond memories of a couple of Vegas trips and a trip to Myrtle Beach for a long weekend of golf with Mike. He was fun, crazy, quirky, and one helluva of a black jack player and I can always say that my life is better for having the opportunity to get to know him and get that time with him. You guys are amazing in all that you have done and it looks like his kids are doing well with all that life had thrown at them. God Bless them and all of you! The board is AWESOME!!!

addicted2ebay

Those kids have been through so much it’s really nice to see them smiling!

jfkheat

I'll look through my collection to see what I can come up with to add to an auction if one is started.
James