Help out a fellow pilot?

[herman the crab]

Not sure if this is allowed or appropriate?

A follower submission...help if you can!
"I am a flight nurse out of Missoula Montana. I was wondering if I could ask for some help. One of the helicopter pilots, Beth Fisher, at The University needs some help. Beth is a former marine and one of the first female helicopter pilots in the military, she was deployed multiple times. She is one of the best pilots and one of the best people. Her dad died unexpectedly last year in an accident. She has spent the last few months getting a transfer to the east coast with Air Methods to be close to her mom. She packed up everything she owned in a Budget Van with her Subaru on a trailer behind it and spent the night in a hotel just outside Salt Lake. The next morning (1.27.2014) she went out to start her drive to the east coast and the moving van and her car were stolen. The Salt Lake Police Department found the van this morning, with a group of men in the back with a fire started. The fire then fully engulfed with van and all of Beth's belongings are a total loss. Is there anyway you guys could post the Gofundme link on your page?"


https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQDP2SJSi969q-pf&w=470&h=246&url=https%3A%2F%2F2dbdd5116ffa30a49aa8-c03f075f8191fb4e60e74b907071aee8.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com%2F31414 39_1422458652.0737.jpg&cfs=1&upscale=1

(http://www.gofundme.com/kzm3qk)
Click here to support Help Beth Fisher by Roxanne Fawson (http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gofundme.com%2Fkzm3qk&h=aAQH3INsn&s=1)
Our dear friend Beth Fisher had a budget moving truck full of all of her belongings and her vehicle stolen in Draper Utah this past week as she was planning to...
GoFundMe: #1 for Crowdfunding & Fundraising Websites (http://www.gofundme.com)






HTC

[Thomas coupling]

Mmm interesting.

Someone loses all their belongings because they are stolen and unrecoverable - and a fund has been set up to pay for this loss?

I don't get it? Why should strangers pay for something which is usually covered under insurance? Even if it's not covered - so what...it's a van load of "stuff"; clothes, pictures, files.

Look at all the other funds in that link - human pain and suffering, grief and severe depravity and this lady loses her van load of belongings???

What about all those folk who lose their entire livelihood in forest fires, bush fires, factory fires - can't work, can't bring their families up?

Is it me or what? Have I missed something? :yuk:

[NickLappos]

Thomas, others have misfortune, we'll help them too!
It is fairly common on this side of the pond to pass the hat when misfortune strikes, and kick in a few bucks. I would wage the insurance never covers the actual value (all must be proven and filed, anyway). But its bigger than that, really.

[normalbloke]

Very well said Nick.

[handysnaks]

TC has been very cynical since he was taken in by a rather implausible story from a son of the Nigerian Defence Minister!����

[67cooper]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OrionAerialChampions/

[Thomas coupling]

It's gotta be an American thang then.
Girl gets her clothes and furniture knicked and some mates pass the hat - GLOBALLY :ugh::rolleyes:

Did you lot "pass the hat" when that black guy was wrestled and dragged to the ground by the cops? Who left a family behind without an income earner?

Did you lot pass the hat when a hurricane wiped out several southern states some years ago - flooding thousands of houses?

What about passing the hat for Lance Armstrong who lost all his sponsorship in 2013? :hmm:

FFS guys the gal had a bad hair day - the end. No-one got hurt, she didn't lose her home, she didnt lose her job. If your worldly possessions can be crammed into a "budget rental van" It's gotta be worth a couple of hundred bucks surely?
$6000 that could be better spent on the little child in the advert next to her - dying from Leukemia.
Only the Yanks.........................................:D


Now where is that Nigerian SOB?

[herman the crab]

Not just side of the pond either.

A UK friend and ex crew mate lost everything in a house fire last year, colleagues and extended service colleagues helped out with furniture and funds for the immediate loss.

Yes he was insured but it takes forever to sort out payments - unless you have large amounts of available credit simply replacing things like clothing and toiletries for a family of four is expensive.

Yes there are many good causes out there and it your choice whether to contribute to them.

HTC

[terminus mos]

TC, I agree with you. I am sure this case is probably genuine but there are so many scams out there.

[GreenKnight121]

Two things:

1. IT IS ABSOLUTELY GENUINE!
Link to local news story, with photos: Moving van stolen, set on fire, police say | KSL.com (http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=33270440)

2. So just how much of humanity do you hate, TC & tm?

[fly911]

I don't get it? Why should strangers pay for something which is usually covered under insurance? Even if it's not covered - so what...

TC, come on. Those that want to give should give. Those that don't, shouldn't

[jayteeto]

With the vast amount of scams going, it is not really bad of anyone to be cynical. Even when you say it is genuine, how do we know who YOU are? I hope this lady gets all the help she needs, I get a hundred e-mails a month with stories like this, ALL are scams.
Sadly, the genuine cases suffer the backlash of the low life out in cyber world. I certainly don't think TC is s##t, I think he dared to voice the INITIAL thoughts of hundreds of Ppruners.

[Woolf]

Having something like this happen can really hit hard, been there myself. It’s not the expensive items, it’s all the little things that carry memories that are really missed so I really do sympathize.

I’m sure it’s all genuine and a nice gesture but personally I wouldn’t donate any money. I don’t know the circumstances any more than has been described above so maybe I’m off the mark but I see a woman who is clearly very bright, has a good job, friends and family and will be able to overcome this difficult event and move on with her life without my financial help. I don’t think this means I don’t have any humanity or that I’m heartless I just feel that she will be taken care of by herself and her surroundings and what time and money I have to donate I wish to donate to people who I believe won’t be able to help themselves.

In any case I wish her all the best!

[GreenKnight121]

jayteeto - so you claim I created a false website that mimics the website of one of the 3 largest network (NBC) TV stations in the state of Utah?

Or did you care so little you didn't bother to check it out before you build your defense for not caring?

[terminus mos]

Green Knight:

I am not really moved enough to donate money to someone on the other side of the world who is employed, as a helicopter pilot, presumably on a decent salary, working for Air Methods (who would probably help out anyway) and with insurances etc in place and a decent enough credit rating to at least get a car and enough credit card have a place to sleep for the night.

There are many who don't even have enough to fill a van and who are hungry, cold and live in their car, right there in the USA. There are many worse off than that.

What has happened to this lady is unfair, unfortunate and uncalled for, but really, there are far more deserving cases for my limited charity $.

Just because I am not donating on this occasion is no relationship to the $ and time that I do devote to charity. Suggesting because I don't get my wallet out right now means that I hate humanity is incorrect and a personal insult.

[[email protected]]

Rather disappointing reactions, including personal insults, from those who feel they must cyber-bully everyone into contributing.

As others have said, there are far more needy and deserving causes should you feel altruistic but why should you be abused for being either a.cynical (and in this day and age that is often a good thing) or b. miserly because you didn't immediately send a donation?

Charity is a personal thing and nobody should be coerced, shamed or forced into giving to anyone they don't want to.

[Stanwell]

Yes.
I too, take exception to a certain attitude expressed on this thread. :*

[jayteeto]

Correct, I didn't bother to look at the website, I also get tons of e-mails from so called genuine websites that are fakes.
Don't be an absolute k**b and try to belittle and bully me, I didn't build a case for not caring, I actually said that I hope she gets help. There has been a thread running on scams for years, read it, you might understand INITIAL disbelief on Pprune.
Why not do a poll amongst Ppruners, ask how many of them INITIALLY thought it was a scam. Be truthful.

[tottigol]

All, please calm down and just take the op at face value.
the post is genuine and is posted alsewhere in a dedicate HEMS "crews" website hosted in the USA.
Those of you who are not knowledgeable about the US HEMS community ought to know that the SAFC (Self Appointed Flight Crewmembers) passengers in the back are the ones running the show, they are allowed to patronize, write your diet, check who you date and meddle in other personal issues in ways that would scarcely be tolerated in other parts of the world.
So before you go off standing on a soapbox please, make yourselff knowledgeable.
Those very SAFCs believe that any and all forums where helicopter flight is discussed pertain to their brethren, and so they continue to meddle in affairs that do not belong to them and feel free to annoy everyone else with their petulant requests and unrequested intermissions.

There are however other ways to respond to certain posts, and if the definition of "defeaning silence" is not familiar to y'all, then I remember a certain lady telling me: "son, if you haven't got anything nice to say, then you'd do rather better stayin' quiet".

Doing the opposite, as TM, TC and someone else have done is going to start a war on this thread. Let's all take the high road and "ignoramus".

[[email protected]]

So much for the right to free speech then:{

Je suis Charlie - just as long as it's OK with you and I don't upset anyone........

[Stanwell]

totti,
You do have a point there.
However, giving some people a nice clean whiteboard to write large upon and then to stand back and ignore what's been written (however well-intentioned) is not the way to go, IMHO.

[Thomas coupling]

Sorry Totti, I'm not your run of the mill "Lemming" I'm afraid. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck - its a fu**ing duck!
These 'well intentioned' "SAFC's" need a lesson in humility. We (in the helicopter fraternity) aren't all the same and I would suggest they look at the definition again, of: Perspective.
Here's an example:
"a sensible way of judging and comparing situations so that you do not imagine that something is more serious than it really is: .."

Beth is now up to $18,000 dollars and counting! Absolutely amazing - strangers giving to a complete stranger because she lost her belongings in the back of a van! ONLY the yanks......................

Having just looked again at this crowdsourcing web site - surely it is a scam site?
How is this site policed?
Just read one of the latest: Get this, a guy walks to work, its a 23 mile journey of which he does 16 miles in a bus and 7 on foot. Please help buy this guy a CAR, why don't we??? Poor guy has to walk 7 miles because he wants to work at this place where there is no bus stop nearby??
$4000 dollars and counting guys!!!
What's wrong with him buying a push bike FFS??? What's the point if lemmings all around the world will croudsource and buy him a brand new car???

http://www.gofundme.com/l7jato

The list goes on and on and on. Some very caring and charitable subject, but occasionally indispersed with what I can only describe as BO**OCKS!

Could this crwodsourcing become a pandemic - I think I'll register as suffering from a pandemic in that case - pleas help me, I need a 4 week holiday in GOA because of the stress I have to endure experiencing all these SCAMS!:mad:

[212man]

$4000 dollars and counting guys!!!

And the rest - he has two appeals going by the looks of it. $43k should do it....

Help James Robertson Get a Car by Evan Leedy - GoFundMe (http://www.gofundme.com/l7girc)

[NickLappos]

Thomas,
I certainly respect your points, and even agree that they have merit. But the beauty is that some of us can give, and some not, and that is OK.
Is it a US trait? I like to think perhaps Some examples :
Post WWII, the US gave freely, absolutely freely, about $160 Billion in today dollars to the WWII devastated countries (The Marshall Plan) to rebuild their economies and prevent despots from infecting them as they rebuilt.
In many US areas, a flat tire on the side of the road yields many helping hands, I had one in Ohio, and people practically took me home to spend the night.
I believe it is part of an interesting social paradox. We have a strong individualism and independence from Government, and yet tremendous sense of team work and mutual support. I think Australians share this - settlers in harsh, sparse territories depend on mutual informal support.

Lest I get accused of blind salesmanship, I think this positive trait interrupts our ability to also behave with shocking insensitivity and
naivety, as some recent military adventures have illustrated. (Anyone see "American Sniper"?)

[jayteeto]

Nick, you are not blind. In the UK, the public have lost much of their sense of community. We naturally mistrust and a person who crashes a car or collapses in the street is often ignored. Sadly, this is because anyone who tries to help is often abused or mistreated. It has become 'dangerous' to help physically.
On the charity side, the Brit is inundated with requests on a daily basis. Children in Need/Comic relief/Help for Heroes/Oxfam/WWF/Barnardos/Cat Protection/Dog Protection/Donkey Sanctuary/Poppy Appeal/Cancer Research/RNLI/Air Ambulance/blah blah blah blah. You cant walk through a town centre without a 'chugger' (charity mugger) trying to get your cash. Even McDonalds try to get you to put your change in a box!!
E-mail inboxes are jammed with scams to liberate you of your money. It actually grinds you down after a while. Many people are VERY rude to collectors now; they have had enough.

Then a thread like this comes along........... We now know it is genuine........... To be honest, most of us still don't care. This is what we have become. :(
Good luck to this lady, well done the American people for holding on to your sense of community. There are good and bad aspects to life on both sides of the Atlantic. Its just that this is not really a British thing, we give TONS of cash to charities that are mainstream, not one offs like this.

[jayteeto]

PS, I'm in Orlando in a couple of weeks time, any chance of some USA Ppruners chipping in for some Disney Tickets??????:cool:

[Thomas coupling]

Nick,
What's come over you. Has power gone to your head. Much more of a subdued response than I was expecting. :D
If I may - I would hope my 'musings' would be directed at that very narrow slither of humanity where the definition of charity has been ....how shall I say "overused". What the US has done to his/her fellow allies is nothing short of heroic and I include the UK in that after helping us out in WWII. But this, I would suggest is in a different part of the 'charity' spectrum to crowdsourcning.

As far as American Sniper is concerned - a very interesting hypothesis you have. Perhaps it's one for "Jet Blast"? I personally thought the guy was a bloody hero - but how do you get that across 'commercially'?

[rantanplane]

Some interresting notes from a small island here...
Just they haven't realised it's called krautfunding now in Europe ;)

[[email protected]]

Krautfunding???Has Angela Merkle launched an appeal to save the Euro then:ok:

[KNIEVEL77]

I'm not sure if this is just a US thing, look at that poor old bloke Alan Barnes from Tyneside who was mugged outside his house last Friday night, couldn't face going back to his home, so a young girl set up a site to raise £500 to help him out and as we speak it has now raised over £300,000!

[fly911]

Giving is a personal thing. I went to the GoFundMe site mentioned at the start of this thread in order to donate, and saw that the goal was met, but being a strong advocate of female helicopter pilots, I searched around the GoFundMe site and found another noble cause. Everyone has their own reasons for giving. I had a lot of help with my flight training and wouldn't mind paying it forward, so I will make donations where I think it will help. For example, I found a college student, involved with Search and Rescue and working three jobs. She wants to be a helicopter pilot, so why not help if I can? Check it out and see if you think it is a worthy cause.

Debtless Dreams by Madison Warner - GoFundMe (http://www.gofundme.com/lgqljw)

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q140/fly911/Mad-1_zps2zbxlsnq.jpg