07.14.08
Send Billy Nelson’s Family to Beijing!
Dear Prospective Donor,
One of our own, Billy Nelson, is going to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China to represent our community and the United States of American in the Track & Field games. That is an accomplishment to be lauded greatly in and of itself, as Billy has been a decorated athlete both from the Wildcats of Taft Union High School and for the Buffaloes of Colorado and is continuing those accomplishments well thereafter. However, the predicament does not lay with Billy, per say. Rather, it is in getting his family (his soon-to-be wife, Alisa, his one year-old daughter, Arabella, and his mother, Rhonda, & stepfather, Bill) to China to be with Billy during this monumental, yet extremely trying time in each of their lives. It is for this reason I am writing you in hopes of garnering your assistance in sending them to Beijing along with Billy.
After researching the costs involved (i.e. airfare, hotel stay, meals, and transportation - not to mention the costs of obtaining their required passports and tourist visas), we’ve determined it is going to cost upwards of $15,000 to send Alisa, Arabella, Rhonda and Bill to Beijing for the Olympic Games. Our goal is to raise at least $10,000 to aid them in this endeavor.
Therefore, it is with an extremely humble, yet gracious heart that we ask for you assistance in making their Olympic dream come true. It is not very often that our own town sends an athlete to represent not only us, but our entire country on the world’s largest and most prestigious stage. This journey will be rewarding, yet mentally and physically arduous nonetheless, which is why we’re striving to send Billy’s family with him to these Olympic Games.
Should you be interested in assisting us in any matter, please find our contact information attached, along with information regarding the fund to which donations can be made. Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated and duly recognized. This is an event which is not only for Billy and his family, but for our community as well - a fact which Billy had overtly stressed in our discussions in this regard.
In closing, on behalf of Billy and his family, we extend our most sincere gratitude - as it is with your help and generosities that we will make this dream a reality.
Kindest Regards,
Bill & Rhonda Blythe, Josh Bryant, Don Schock, and (most importantly) Billy, Alisa, and Arabella.
Contact Information:
Josh Bryant
661-477-3230 (cell)
661-765-3058 (Work Office, Direct)
joshuarobertbryant@hotmail.com
josharobertbryant@gmail.com
Don Schock
661-979-1549 (cell)
661-765-5330 (Work)
dschock_30@hotmail.com
don@genprod.com
Donations Can Be Made to the Following:
“The Billy Nelson Olympic Fund”
United Security Bank
523 Cascade Place
Taft, Ca 93268
(661) 763-5151
We’re selling commemorative and supportive T-shorts to raise funds for Billy & his family! T-shirt’s are being prepared and distributed courtesy of Pride Athletics here in Taft for $15.00 each, IN ANY SIZE, with $10 from each shirt going to the fund and the rest covering the cost of the shirts themselves! Please give the Dayton’s a big hug & ‘Thank You” for their support while you’re buying your shirt, supporting our hometown hero, and supporting this great cause! Orders can be placed by contacting those above or by going directly to Pride Athletics, or by calling them at the number below.
Pride Athletics
716 Center St.
Taft, Ca 93268
(661) 765 - 9194
We’ll also be holding a car wash (or two) to help raise funds. Please contact us for more details.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND HELP - WE APPRECIATE IT!!!!
Administrator said,
July 17, 2008 at 6:46 am
Taft Olympian gets help in funding trip to Beijing for family
BY ZACH EWING, Californian staff writer, zewing@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Jul 16 2008 11:48 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Jul 16 2008 11:48 PM
Billy Nelson’s mother, Rhonda Blythe, has some wonderful memories of watching her son, Taft’s finest, qualify in Eugene, Ore., last month for the Beijing Olympic Games.
Photos:
Track Field Trials
Photo by Eric Risberg
Taft High graduate Billy Nelson crosses the finish line during the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. Nelson placed second and earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
Thanks to some friends of the family — and the generosity of Kern County — she might be able to add more in China next month.
Nelson, a former Taft High runner and a University of Colorado alumnus, finished second in the steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Trials, giving him a free ticket to Beijing.
Blythe and her husband, Bill Blythe, Nelson’s stepdad, knew they had enough funds to send Rhonda to Beijing, but they decided Billy’s fiancée, Alisa Crane, and 1-year-old daughter, Arabella, should go instead.
“But Billy said, ‘Mom, you have to go,’” Rhonda Blythe said. “And so his buddies have lit the town on fire. And the town was waiting.
”
Josh Bryant and Don Schock, Nelson’s best friends from Taft High, knew as soon as they saw him qualify that they’d do whatever they could to help.
“I was watching (the trials) on TV … and I’m screaming,” Bryant said. “I’ve never been so elated for someone else in my life.
“This is his time to run and to shine and not worry about anything else. I talked to Don, and we said, ‘If it happens, we’re going to do it.
’”
“It” turned out to be helping send all four members of Billy’s family — the Blythes, Alisa and Arabella — to Beijing. All they needed to know was how much it would take.
The answer? Between $15,000 and $20,000, about half of which the Blythes could afford on their own. That left Bryant and Schock with a goal of $10,000 to reach by about July 27, giving the family enough time to make accommodations before visiting the Chinese Embassy in Los Angeles for visa and passport information.
“It’s been four or five days,” Bryant said. “We’ve got (about $1,000) in the bank and we got some news that we’re going to get $2,000 or $3,000 from local businesses.
”
To make up the difference, Bryant and Schock, with help from Pride Athletics in Taft, are selling commemorative Billy Nelson Olympic T-shirts for $15, organizing a car wash and asking for flat donations.
“We can’t run the race for him, can’t give him extra energy,” Bryant said. “So we’re doing this. He’s our brother, and we’re carrying him on our shoulders.
”
Donations can be sent to: The Billy Nelson Olympic Fund, United Security Bank, 523 Cascade Place, Taft, CA 93268, or by purchasing a T-shirt from Pride Athletics at (661) 765-9193.
Nelson, who’s in Europe for some warm-up races, already has provided his mom with a long list of great memories from the trials.
Some of Rhonda’s highlights: Giving his shoes to a boy who asked for them after the race, then running a celebratory lap barefoot; giving a girl a flower from his bouquet after she’d been squeamish about requesting an autograph; and the crowd in front of them parting like the Red Sea so they could meet Billy after he’d qualified.
“It’s beyond words,” Rhonda Blythe said. “The outward affection of people in the United States has been tremendous. We’ve seen him win several races, but nothing is like this. At that point, I was just like, ‘I’m going (to Beijing).
’”
Thanks to a little help, that might just be true.