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Letter from the Paloduro
Kid (the beneficiary from our 2nd annual raffle)
Cowboy
Way - Can you answer the call?
By: Paloduro Kid
"The
Cowboy Way," "Riding for the Brand," and more recently, "Cowboy Up"
- they are all ways we like to think of ourselves and the people we
deal with in our lives. "Sealing
the deal with a handshake" and "our word is our bond" are
other things we used to be able to rely on with a person, long
before the days of frivolous lawsuits civil courts that are so full
we cannot empty them by the end of this decade.
Now
days, when you are asked to donate to a charity or such thing we
really have to stop and think, and in many cases research the cause
before we make a donation. This
is where we are in our lives today.
It is sad when you think about it, especially when we have
things happening in the world like the Tsunami disaster.
There are so many groups trying to collect donations to help
these people. But then
you hear of countless numbers of groups and individuals that are
getting these funds and not sending a dime to any of those affected.
This brings me to the reason for writing this.
Shoot!
Magazine has been doing raffles for the last few years to help
fellow cowboys they have heard are in some sort of crisis.
I, the Paloduro Kid, know this because I was the person they
selected for their second raffle.
My situation was a little unusual in the fact that I needed
money to keep my cobra insurance and stay on the heart transplant
list. I needed money
long before the raffle's end.
Chucky knew this because of one of our many conversations (he
would call to check on my family and me just to see how things were
going). That is when he
decided to start paying the monthly insurance payment that was right
at $500.00 a month. Eighteen
months later and just about the time Shoot! had made the commitment
to pay the monthly payments, I was informed that it was possible to
continue the cobra insurance coverage if you were disabled, but that
the payment would be one and a half times the size it was.
I was flabbergasted at this and thought there was no way I
could do that, and would never have expected Shoot! Magazine to pay
that. Well, Chucky would
have nothing to do with bailing out on the deal and told me the new
payments would be made. This,
I remind you, at a time when the magazine was picking up Trails
End Magazine and they were, in fact, pretty strapped for money
themselves, although he never mentioned it to me.
They did continue and never missed a payment.
By the time the raffle ended, they had paid out way more than
the raffle brought in. I
had help from many of you and some of our area clubs also.
And for all of this I would like to thank you again for all
the help. Our shooting
family has helped in more ways than a person could imagine.
Now
here is the kicker to it all. Shoot!
Magazine is still helping us. The
cobra insurance coverage did finally run out and I had to be put on
Medicare. It pays a
portion of my medical, but I do not know of anyone who has received
a transplant while being on it.
So, I had to have supplemental insurance to get me back on
the list, of which I was off for over a year.
Now with the supplemental insurance, I am able to get all of
my paperwork resubmitted to the doctors.
Things are looking a lot better again.
I look forward to sometime in the near future getting the
beeper, which means I am on short notice to get to the hospital and
get the new heart. So,
you see, all of your and my prayers are being heard.
Thank you again.
If
you're afraid of what Shoot! Magazine is doing with your money,
let me you're your mind, it all goes to the recipients.
Not one red cent is kept by anyone at Shoot! for
administration fees or anything else.
And whatever amount you are able to send in to buy that
ticket is really going to someone in need.
I know of no other group that can say that.
All of the money they spend of advertising and all of the
time they spend on this raffle is donated by Shoot! and its their
employees. They don't
have to do this, they just want to.
So please help support the raffles.
You never know when you might find yourself in the position
to need their help. I
never thought I would be in this condition until it happened.
Then it was too late to plan for it.
There
are people in our shooting groups that are or will be in need of our
help again and I am sure Shoot! Magazine will be there to help them,
with a raffle or another way. If
you hear of one like that, remember, the prayers you send or the
ticket you buy may be the one thing that helps turn their life
around.
You
are all in our thoughts and prayers.
So, thank you all again.
And a big thank you to Chucky and his crew at Shoot!
Magazine.
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