Fund Raising for Richard Biggs Memorial

[Jan]

Some of you might have seen my post in the 'Today we lost Richard Biggs' thread, but I wanted to start a separate one for any fund raising activities folks find or start.

I've got some auctions going where all proceeds will go toward whatever Trust Fund will be started. JMS mentioned that and I saw a post from Bruce Boxleitner and Melissa Gilbert mentioning it also. I began a new PayPal account also (email: RBiggsMemorial@aol.com) so all funds will be accounted for. Once the Trust is set up, I hope to link the account to that so the funds will be accessible at once. Direct donations can be sent to that account also

So far I've got 2 rare autographed Sleeping in Light CDs, some shirts, a comic and an autographed shooting schedule up for auction. I plan others and another poster is sending me some t-shirts to auction. If anybody else has items they'd like to donate, I'll be happy to add them also.

I've seen before how generous the B5 community is when I did some auctions for Kitten Rescue several months ago after JMS rescued Buddy the cat. With something this important, I'm expecting *great* things.

Thanks friends,
Jan

 

[Jan]

Just wanted to update this to let people know what's happening. The response from people has been overwhelming! I've gotten emails from people donating items to auction and some generous donations direct to the PayPal account and there are bids on almost every item already. As of a short time ago, the combined auction bids and donations totals right at $500.00!!!

The address for the Trust for Rick's sons has been published:

The Benefit of the Children for Richard James Biggs II
Washington Mutual Bank
840 N San Fernando Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91502

As I said before, mine is a strictly personal effort and not official. I do plan to try to contact the trust officer to see if they want me to relinquish the PayPal account to them immediately perhaps.

One of the ongoing themes of B5 was that one person *can* make a difference and each of you who bids or donates *IS* going to make a difference to Rick's children.

Thanks, friends...
Jan

 

[Jan]

Just to keep people updated, right now the combined total of auction bids and direct donations to the PayPal account total $621.25.

I've found at least a couple more Really Cool Things to auction and a few other people are sending me things to auction, so please bookmark the " rbiggsmemorial " seller name in Ebay.

Thanks,
Jan

 

[crofootski]

The address for the Trust for Rick's sons has been published:

The Benefit of the Children for Richard James Biggs II
Washington Mutual Bank
840 N San Fernando Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91502

If we want to donate and write a check, to whom do we make it out?

 

[Jan]

If we want to donate and write a check, to whom do we make it out?

The formal name seems to be:

The Benefit of the Children for Richard James Biggs II

...which is pretty long. I'm sure if you make it out to the Richard Biggs Memorial Fund it'll get to the right place.

Jan
Who used to work for a charity that got memorial donations regularly.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The Benefit of the Children for Richard James Biggs II

That or "The Trust for..." etc. ought to get it done. Or just stop by or ring up your local Washington Mutual Bank. I think they're pretty much nation-wide these days, and they'll be able to give you any details you need. (If you bank with them, as I do, they can probably handle the transaction as an inter-account transfer and save you the trouble of writing a check. They did that when a trust was set up a few years ago for the children of a local cop who was killed in the line of duty. Non-customers could also walk in and make a donation at any branch. I'm going to visit one of my local branches tomorrow Saturday.)

Regards,

Joe

 

[Elenopa]

How about overseas people who don't usually deal with US banking systems? Is there a way we can donate elctronically?

 

[Jan]

How about overseas people who don't usually deal with US banking systems? Is there a way we can donate elctronically?

Options I can think of:

- If somebody finds and posts an account number you can as your bank to transfer funds.
- If you have a US Dollas account you can ask your bank to send a check.
- You can, if you have a PayPal account and *if* you're comfortable doing so, donate via the PayPal account I opened to accept payment for the auctions I'm holding to raise money for Rick's kids. The nice thing about PayPal is that there's no fuss at converting to USD. If that interests you, you can check my feedback rating on Ebay as seller name ' janmschroeder ' and/or google for my posts under my current name janmschroeder@aol.com or my previous name of jbonetati@aol.com. While I haven't posted a lot here until recently, I've been around B5 Fandom for a while now.

Maybe others have other suggestions?

Jan

 

[Jan]

Just to keep interest high and make sure that I tempt as many people as possible, I've just added two more auctions of some *really* rare B5 items.

First is the Babylon 5 Treatment for a prime time series. This is what JMS put together to shop around to the studios when he was trying to get B5 off the ground. Lots of color illustrations by Peter Ledger and character sketches and profiles of how JMS originally envisioned them. It's *really* cool seeing how things changed yet how they stayed the same.

Second is the Crusade Writers Bible. Shorter than the other, this has character profiles and some tantalizing hints of what we might have seen if this spin-off hadn't been ended before it truly began.

These were sold by the Official Babylon 5 Fan Club but are not the autographed versions. Still very rare, though. Good luck and have fun!

Jan

 

[Jan]

With a little over a day to run on the earliest items, I'm thrilled to report that the combined total of auction bids and direct donations has now gone over $900!!!

But wait! There's still more to come! Over the weekend I'm going to start auctions of some of the items that people are so generously donating to the cause. Among them:

- The case topper card from the Rittenhouse "Complete Babylon 5" card series autographed by JMS himself, this is quite rare.

- A new, still sealed set of Season # B5 DVDs.

- Autographed photos from Babylon 5 and Trek.

- A call sheet from "And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder" autographed by Peter Jurasik.

Stay tuned and keep watching and bidding on the auctions.

Thanks for all your help!

Jan

 

[Jan]

Well, folks, the first set of four auctions has ended and, as of about an hour ago, the combined total of bids and direct donations has passed the $1,000 mark. Isn't that amazing?

I know that this well all mean a lot to Rick's wife and sons. I'm very proud to be a B5 fan right now.

There'll be still more auctions shortly so keep watching and bidding!

Thanks,
Jan

 

[Jan]

$1,700.00

One Thousand Seven Hundred Dollars.

Seventeen Hundred Bucks.

Wow.

BTW, I may not have mentioned it, but I did want to assure everyone that I will be sending information on who donated and bid along with the check I send to the Trust. I don't know if acknowledgements will be sent out from there or not.

Seventeen Hundred Dollars....

We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum....

Jan

 

[Jan]

I just found this over on Sandy Bruckner's Zocalo Today and she said she thought it would be okay to repost. It's a note she got from one of Rick Biggs' sisters:
----------------
I would also like to thank you for sharing the information about the fund set up for Rick's children. I would like to ask you to please let everyone know that if they send money to the bank, Lori, Richard's wife, will have no way of knowing who they are, won't have their addresses and won't be able to thank them. It is important to her that she be able to thank each and everyone of them. It would be such a help if they could send a note or card to the post office box as well. That way Lori, R.J. and Hunter can thank them for caring. We have felt the love and thoughts sent our way this past week and a half. It is a comfort to know how many lives our brother touched. Please keep his memory alive in your thoughts and keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Maria Biggs-Lynch
--------------------
As a reminder, the PO box mentioned is:

RJ and Hunter Biggs
1052 W. Alameda Ave #350
Burbank CA 91506.

and the Trust Fund is:

The Benefit of the Children of Richard James Biggs II
Washington Mutual Bank
840 N. San Fernando Blvd
Burbank CA 91502.

And for those who've donated via the PayPal account or by winning any of the auctions, I have going, I'll be forwarding your information when I send the check. Also, if you donated items, I'll send that info, too.

Thanks all,
Jan

 

[Jan]

Did I say $1,700? So sorry, that amount is out of date now. I just ran a total and the bids, the PayPal balance and the payments I'm waiting for now total....are you ready? Almost $2,100!!! I'm still expecting more things to auction from people so I may have a check sent shortly and send the information to the Biggs family on the people who've donated/bid so far.

This is so absofragginglutly fan-tastic!

Thanks,
Jan

 

[Jan]

Two items: First, the combined totals of auction bids, expected payments and the PayPal balance are now over $2,300. !!!

Hope nobody minds my mentioning here that I've started some personal auctions. Part of the proceeds will go toward my Rick Biggs Memorial auctions (fees, packaging etc.) and part for myself. So far I've listed a lithograph of the cast signed by Bruce Boxleitner, a poster-size version of the TV Guide cover from 1997, some set dressing cocktail napkins and a director/editors cut of "A Late Delivery from Avalon". They can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/b36t or do a seller search for JanMSchroeder.

Thanks,
Jan

 

[Jan]

It's been a little while since I updated you all on this, but I just did
something amazing. I just requested checks from PayPal totalling $2,500!!!
That's not quite the entire balance and there are a couple of payments still on
the way and more auctions coming...but I wanted to send this much as quickly as
I can.

The checks will come to me to be forwarded to the fund so there will still be a
bit of a lag. I'm preparing a document to send to the Biggs family to let them
know who to acknowledge for this generosity. Some people sent nice notes that
I'll be forwarding also.

I can't find the words to express how the outpouring of caring and support
you've all shown has affected me. Thank you all.

Jan

 

[Jan]

Yep, more auctions up for your bids! From one donor, I've got two autographed items from Star Wars and a beautiful tote bag from Lord of the Rings. Watch for more items from this donor, too with moree pics and cards! From other donors are a B5 script and Shooting Schedule for the B5 episode 'Passing Through Gethsemane', a Mira Furlan CD, a Cast picture and a souvenir script of 'Believers'.

My personal auctions (mostly going to offset costs of the Memorial auctions), there's some lovely framed art prints of Londo, G'Kar and Delenn, some proof copies of JMS' novels, a Wesco watch, Australian playing cards and an actual set used document explaining the League of Non-Allied (later named Non-Alligned) Worlds.

Do you happen to want to help me out? I can use some help publicising these auctions on non-Babylon 5 forums. The more exposure, the more bids, the more money for Rick's family.

Thanks all!
Jan

 

[Jan]

Been way too long since I posted an update here, sorry!

I've got 10 auctions going right now to benefit the memorial fund. Items range from Stargate to Farscape to Mutant X to Star Wars....get the idea? I can still use some help in publicizing them if you happen to hang out at non-B5 forums or newsgroups.

Continuing to keep you updated on the fund, I'm waiting for a couple of snail mail payments and then I'll be able to send them and another PayPal check totalling $1,000! This has gone so much better than I'd ever dreamed. Thank you all so much.

According to the Delivery Confirmation, the first two checks totaling $2,500 were delivered to the bank on 6/25. Ditto the package I sent to the Biggs familiy PO box with donor info and check copies.

And finally, if I can be forgiven a shameless plug, feel free to check out my personal auctions for some particularly rare B5 stuff.

Thanks all!!

Jan

 

[Jan]

Hey folks,

I got a package today with a set of the 'In Valen's Name' B5 comics in it. There's no note and I didn't bid on or win them in any auctions so I'm assuming that they're being donated to be auctioned?

Could the nice person from TN please email me so I know how to acknowledge you?

Thanks,
Jan

 

[Jan]

Just to let people know that I mailed out more donations to the Memorial Fund
today. A check from the PayPal account and 2 money orders totaled a little
over $1,000 making the total sent now to $3,500. Thank you all.

In the next week or so, I'll be putting up possibly the final set of auctions.
I'll let you know when. I'll be leaving the PayPal account open until at least
after DragonCon in case anybody else wants to contribute.

Thanks again,
Jan