It be for Tim

It be for Tim

Hello, my name is Richard and if you’re reading this you’re probably like me—a motorcyclist, or you know someone who is a motorcyclist. Several years ago while attending church (the Crossing) in the Brandon – Tampa area with my friend Tim Murray, a group of church members and friends got together and started a group ride on Saturdays. Tim and I rode almost every chance we had together. I got consumed with my love for motorcycling that I switched churches to “Free Riders Fellowship” (FRF) in Plant City—a biker church, just to spend more time with like-minded people who enjoy riding motorcycles.

About 10 weeks ago, Tim called me one night asking me if I could tell him how much his bike was worth. It was a 2007 Yamaha Road Liner S with only 10k miles  on her; candy apple red with lots of chrome, windshield,  special pipes, some one-off stuff and a 1900 cc motor. I try to stay up on that stuff, so I looked it up and told him the retail value was currently around $7,500 and maybe $7,700 with the extras. Then I asked why he needed the info; that bike was his pride and joy. He would almost always remove the baffles when we rode big rides so everyone would take notice of it. Then he told me that he planned to sell it. I couldn’t believe it, why would he want to do that I asked. His reply put me to the floor. He said Richard, “I have just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I cannot work and we need money.”

That night all I could think about was Tim, his condition and life circumstances, and then it came to me. We will raffle his bike and come up with more funds than its current value. I called the next morning and shared my idea. I don’t think he would have gone along with it had it not been for another friend who stopped by to see him after our conversation and shared the same idea. His name is Dirk Tucker, he is very involved with helping people who are inflicted by this terrible disease. Never in my life have I done a raffle like this. I called Dirk and we shared our thoughts knowing Tim needed money right away. It was mid-March and he had to come up with funds by the end of April. I had the idea of showing the bike at bike events. I asked my Pastor Aaron Brown at FRF his thoughts, He said, maybe I should see Ron Galletti at Born To Ride in Brandon for some pointers. So the next day I headed over there. I walked in early that morning but there was no one at the front desk; however there was a lady in the middle office, she noticed me coming in and gave me a big smile and welcomed me in. She looked like she was very busy but stopped everything to give me her undivided attention. I told her what I was up to and almost before I was done she offered services to assist. I was just elated with her willingness to help. The Lady I am talking about is Debbie Galletti. What I didn’t know then is that she was in the middle of final preparations for Daytona Bike Week and getting out the monthly magazine out. I asked her for local upcoming bike events and she suggested I go to Uncle Mike’s where they were promoting a new bike night on Wednesday and Sunday afternoon. That Sunday after church, I headed over to see Uncle Mike to get permission to set up for the raffle. There I was sent out back to see Maggie, the bartender handling this promotion. Again, I was met with a big smile and an ear to help. She gave me the OK and told me where to set up. And then she asked me if I ever thought of GoFundMe along with the raffle. I had never heard of this GoFundMe stuff. I thought I would forget it so she made a note for me. When I got home, I called a friend Steve Hicks who assisted in getting the website GoFundMe set up. We called it The Tim Murray Donation Fund. I made a donation of $5.00 to see if it really worked. It did! The website asked me to put it on Facebook. I didn’t have a Facebook account but another friend said he would post it on his account and within two weeks Tim had enough donations to cover his financial need in April.

With Bike Week and other stuff happening, the raffle didn’t get started till the end of April with the raffle to be done and the drawing on May 27. It was time for the rubber to hit the road. I would have never been able to pull this off if it wasn’t for Rodger Lowe, Tim’s friend and neighbor. He trucked, trailered, and helped set up for bike events at Uncle Mike’s, Plant City Bike Night, and Barney’s Memorial Day Ride. We received support from every biker we made contact with. The Crossing, FRF, and Dover Baptist Church were great support too! May 27 was here and it was time to draw the winning ticket. The ticket was drawn from a big jar by Tim’s little grandson Camden, and the winner’s name was announced—Mark Hess of Riverview. He was present that night and was totally blown away with excitement. Would you believe, Maggie sold that winning ticket! Pictures were taken and it was over, $13,720 was raised. With additional funds through GoFundMe and one-time donations the total was $25,000. It all be for Tim, and yes God is good!