On a serious note: A plea for help for a fellow musician

[pianotuner steveo]

To all members:

My drummer, Joey Fitz, needs help from anyone who can. About 10 days ago, he fell down his basement stairs and broke his arm just below the shoulder, and his BACK. Thankfully, he is not paralyzed. He is still in the hospital, and has a long recovery and very high medical bills ahead. Joe was forced to go on permanent disability a couple of years ago, and he no longer can drive a car. (Very poor eyesight)

Joe is in his 50's, and was once a world class drummer, a decent lead and rhythm guitarist, a basic keyboard player, and he and I have been writing songs together since 1975. Joe's wife can only work part time due to her own medical issues. They do have basic health insurance, but their deductibles are high. They inherited a modest house a few years ago, and their furnace needs replacing also. ( it is too old to get parts for) on top of that, their roof is leaking. Their furnace has stopped working twice in the past week. It is still below zero here at night.

I am setting up two online fundraisers for these fine folks. One for any size donation- $1.00 and up, will be through Paypal. The other will be through Fundabilities.com. I believe their minimum donation is $25. If you can find it in your hearts to help these folks, it would be greatly appreciated. Any amount will help. If you are interested, PM me and I will tell you how to send through Paypal, or snail mail for checks.

These donations will be tax deductible for some people.

Please do not go to Fundabilities yet, it should be set up in a few days. I will try to remember to edit this post when it is ready. Please PM me for more info, and thank you all in advance.

I assure you this is a legit cause,not just people trying to raise money for personal gain.

******OK the PAYPAL donations can now be made!! ********

Send Paypal donations as a gift to: mymerlie@gmail.com



Please PM me for instructions. If everyone here only donated $2 each, they would probably raise enough for their furnace! Please help, $1,$2,$5,$7 whatever you can afford would be GREATLY appreciated!


P.S. I did get permission from Cormac to post this.



Steveo

[pianotuner steveo]

Update: Today is March 16th, and Joe is STILL in the hospital. There is no sign of him leaving yet.

Thank you to those who have donated!

[Ben Bove]

Donated, wishing him a speedy recovery

[pianotuner steveo]

Thank you Ben! So far, the members of this forum have been absolutely wonderful with donations. On behalf of Joe, thank you to everyone! So far we have raised about $300 here.

Unfortunately, he's still in the hospital. It has been 3 full weeks now...

[Tim Hodges]

Donated, it's good to see the sense of community on here.

I hope Joey and his wife are ok.

Tim

[pianotuner steveo]

Wow, you guys are great! Thank you to EVERYONE that has helped!  You know who you are....

[pianotuner steveo]

Two updates to pass on. Joe is finally out of the hospital, and is doing better. He still has the brace, and walking up just a few steps is not easy for him. Every day is a little better,though.

[pianotuner steveo]

I am sorry to report that my dear friend Joe passed away earlier today. The doctors think it was a heart attack, but it also could have been a stroke. His poor wife does not know where to turn, or what to do. Joe has no life insurance.  He was only 55 years old. ( born 8/16/58, the exact same day as Madonna)


Joe was my drummer, one of my best friends, and one of the people who really pushed me into becoming a piano technician. I first met him in May, 1975, almost 39 years to the day. He brought his drum set to the teen coffee house (in a shopping cart!)  that I played piano, guitar and banjo at every Friday night, and we were musical partners ever since.

Joe owned a Wurlitzer 206 (unchopped) and a Kustom 88 that I am sure will be for sale eventually.
I will let you know when that time comes.

Joe was a world class drummer, and had drummer buddies all over the world. He used to barter drums with these guys all the time.
Joe also owned numerous snare drums and drum kits. He owned the snare drum used on the song
"All Right Now" by Free ( Simon Kirke also from Bad Co.) but unfortunately, I do not know exactly which of his many snare drums it was.

Steveo

[David Aubke]

Damn. I just noticed this. Sorry to hear.

So that's why I always think "All Right Now" was a Bad Co. tune.

[pianotuner steveo]

Yes, Simon Kirke and Paul Rodgers were in Free. ( Drummer and lead singer)
Bad Co. did do the song live, btw...