Fundraiser for Ramon Castillo

[Guest Linoge]

By now, I am pretty sure most people here have heard about Ramon Castillo, but here is the short and sweet story (yoinked and edited from my post on him):

Two scumbags walked into Mr. Castillo’s jewelry/pawn shop, and asked to see some rings, effectively distracting him and his wife. Then, a third came in, pulled a firearm, and declared that this was a robbery, whereupon the other two pulled out their own handguns, and the whole group of them herded the Castillos into the back room of their shop. If the scumbags had simply left the couple back there, or locked them back there, or something like that, and done their smash-and-grab and left, they probably would all be alive to this day… however, in a fit of Darwinian stupidity, the robbers decided to tie up Mrs. Castillo, and then her husband.

Thankfully, they never got that far. Once his wife was secured, out of the line of fire, and in a known location (remember, always know your target and what is beyond it), Mr. Castillo drew his own firearm, stopped the most-immediate threat to him, and went directly for heavier firepower. Could he have continued the fight with his handgun? Absolutely. But given that a generally more-effective tool was just steps away in his office, I dare say the brief delay to retrieve it was a necessary risk/cost, and the events play out to support his decision as well.

All three scumbags are now sporting toetags at the local morgue, Mrs. Castillo emerged from the incident completely unscathed, and while Mr. Castillo had to be transported to the hospital in critical condition with shots to his left shoulder, abdomen, and legs, he is expected to survive.

The awesome news is that he survived the ordeal, and is expected to make as full a recovery as people of his age who have been shot thrice can. The somewhat sucky news is that his family does not have health insurance.

So, they started a fund to try to defray some of his massive medical costs, and I decided to see what I could do to help them out... Here is the deal:

Courtesy of Simon and Schuster, I have two spare copies of Stephen Hunter's newest book, Dead Zero, as seen here on my lovely basement carpet:

Obviously, I only need one of those, and I have decided to hold a drawing to get rid of the other two. How do you secure a chance to win?

1. Donate directly to Ramon Castillo’s recovery fund,

– OR –

Purchase from one of my sponsored links listed at my site.

2. Email a screencapture or other copy of the receipt from your donation or purchase to “linoge (at) wallsofthecity (dot) netâ€.

3. Wait until 1800 on 30JAN10, when I will hold a random number drawing for the recipients of the two books.

And about those sponsored links - I am not going to see a dime from them. From 28DEC until 30JAN, any money my webpage made or will make by way of advertisements will be going straight to Mr. Castillo's fund, and I will be happy to post screencaptures proving I am not scamming folks.

Oh, and even better? An anonymous donor has offered to match any funds I raise up to $100... and we are nowhere near maxing him out yet.

Me, I just figure it is the least I can do to help a man who stepped up to the plate and made the best of what was going to be a completely sucky situation no matter how it fell down... And, hey, you could get a book out of the deal (especially since right now, I have all of five entries)!

(Note to Mods: If this is the kind of thing that I should get a Premium Membership for, my apologies, and feel free to do with this thread as you will.)