How this Auction Works

So we have essentially attempted to make a blog site serve as an auction tool and its a little quirky, but we think it will ultimately work well. Big time honor system here folks! Please remember nothing is for profit and we need to keep the big picture in mind. Please follow through on all bid commitments.
  • To view items for auction, review the blog comments making sure to expand each month to see everything that is available.
  • Starting this Thursday (5/10), we will begin accepting bids.
  • To bid on an item, simply post your bid by adding a comment to the item listing. Bids received after the close date and time will not be honored.
  • You DO NOT have to create an account to bid. When you add a comment (a bid), you can choose an identity and you can pick "Other" or "Anonymous".
  • BIDDERS: PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS WITH YOUR BIDS. This will be the contact mechanism to notify you if you’ve won the auction and to discuss shipping and payment logistics.
  • The auction close date should be included in the original listing. Paypal is the strongly preferred payment method, but other arrangements can be made on a case-by-case basis.
  • The buyer is responsible for shipping costs and this should be arranged when contacting the seller. The seller will coordinate further commuincation on when the item ships and arrives.
  • Any and all disputes or issues can come through me directly: Brian Warden - kkbward1@comcast.net

Vinny

Vinny

About Brian and Kara Wardens" Son Vinny

Who is Vinny?
Vinny is our boy. He is three years old and has an extremely rare neurological disorder called Canavan Disease (CD). CD is a genetic disorder where both parents have to carry the mutation and even then, the parents only have a 25% chance of having a child with CD. There have been only about 500 cases ever documented in the US. Since he does not have a specific gene, his body does not naturally create a critical enzyme and therefore acid builds up in the white matter of his brain, destroying his motor functions.

What is he like?
He is very much like a big infant, but smarter. Since his grey matter is not affected, his thinking ability is not diminished. But since his white matter is severely impacted, he cannot walk or speak or even hold up his own head. He can however reach out, communicate through noises and he smiles and laughs to let you know he is happy.

What is his future?
There is simply no cure for CD and he will likely not live much past 10 years old and could die sooner or could live longer. Unfortunately, he will continue to degenerate over time, he will likely lose much of his sight and will probably develop seizures. Ultimately, heart, lung or other critical functions fail.

What can be done?
We have largely come to terms with the reality of his future, so we focus on right now and what we can do to make his quality of life better. We look for ways to make his life more comfortable and to give him opportunity to do more than he is ‘supposed’ to be able to do. This is why we opted to try the gene therapy and while it did not make huge improvements, he is able to do more than he did and we likely have slowed the degeneration process. Stem cell research is really the best possible chance for these kids. Although I am not sure it will come in time for Vince, I think it holds real potential for families to not have to go through this in the future.

Where will the money go?
There are two main options, the Vincent’s Hope fund and the UMDNJ / Cooper Hospital fund for Paola Leone. The Vincent’s Hope fund is a checking account with Union Colony Bank in Windsor, CO that we use for any of our personal costs to support Vinny. Examples include hospital bills, copays, adaptive equipment, medically required travel…etc. We keep very careful records of every penny coming in and out and keep it very separate from our personal finances. With that said it is not an official charity and donations are generally NOT tax deductible. Paypal funds received as part of the auctions are deposited into this account. The UMDNJ / Cooper hospital fund is an official charity that funds research conducted by the only scientist in the world working on CD exclusively, Dr. Paola Leone. She is the one who coordinated the gene therapy and who is currently working on adult stem cell research. We make regular contributions to this fund from the VH fund and from our personal finances when we can. If someone is interested in making a more substantial contribution to be able to deduct from their taxes, this is the route to take. Finally, I don’t know what kind of sick freak it would take to use this as a scam, but I guess it is possible. There are dozens of ways I can prove this is legitimate and I am more than happy to do so if you have even the slightest concern. Please contact me via email kkbward1@comcast.net for questions or concerns. I am hoping to meet some of the local folks sometime soon and I extend an open invite to folks to drop by to meet Vinny and maybe toss back a beer and talk fishing for a bit….

For more info, click here http://www.vincentshope.org/(warning: content is a little stale)

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Sulfurs, get your sulfurs....


Offered for auction are three dozen of my favorite flies for my favorite Eastern hatch. Most of these patterns also have been proven effective on Western PMD hatches.

3 each of: Yellow Pheasant Tail Nymph, Yellow Glass Bead Pheasant Tail, Orange Pheasant Tail,
Orange FlashBack Pheasant Tail

3 each: CDC Emerger/Stillborn, CDC Soft Hackle

3 each: Hi-Vis Spinner, CDC Spinner

3 each: Sulfur Parachute, CDC Dun, and 6 Hairwing Duns

Auction is closed, congratualtions to the winning bidder! The item will ship from the actual donor which may or may not be the person who posted the item. Regardless, one of us (poster, donor or myself) will be contacting you using the email address you provided to coordinate shipping.

If we cannot contact the winning bidder within a week of the auction end date, we will begin the process of contacting the next highest bidder to see if they want the item.

If you are the donor or the winning bidder and have any questions on the next steps, please send me an email (kkbward1@comcast.net) and I will help in any way I can.

Finally, let me say that I am blown away by the success of this auction and the tremendous support my family and I have received. I had very little to do with this success and I am truly grateful to everyone who participated in the auction so far, but a special thanks goes out to folks who spearheaded this thing (you know who you are). From my family to yours, Thank You.

Posted by jon at 6:58 PM

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'll start off this here auction with a bid for $25.00


befuddled.angler@gmail.com

May 9, 2007 at 4:42 PM
Anonymous said...

I'm in for $30.

Adams

ahuhta@comcast.net

May 10, 2007 at 1:42 PM
Anonymous said...

I'll bump it to $40.


ijsouth

ijsouth@yahoo.com

May 10, 2007 at 10:43 PM
Anonymous said...

Make that $45.
allenreb@att.net

May 15, 2007 at 11:04 AM
Anonymous said...

$50. American. Not that silly Canadian stuff that gets stuck in vending machines. Adams
ahuhta@comcast.net

May 17, 2007 at 1:45 PM
Anonymous said...

Teh winnah - Adams. E-mail forthcoming, and thanks to all.

Jon

May 20, 2007 at 11:04 PM
Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update Jon. Was out of town until today -- will look for the email. Adams

May 22, 2007 at 11:01 AM
jon said...

My e-mail:

ferrocranium@hotmail.com

Jon

May 22, 2007 at 9:57 PM

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