GoFundMe Campaign - T.J. Hill .

Bavafongoul · Aug 17, 2017

Here is a link to a new GoGundMe Campaign for the benefit of T.J. Hill.
(https://www.gofundme.com/tjs-battle-against-leukemia)

T.J.is a young upcoming star in the 18&U divison and just turned 17 on August 1.
In early Aug., he had to withdraw from the BEF 9 Ball Championship in Las Vegas
where he reached the final sixteen (16) but was too sick to continue competing,
Just imagine how it would feel if 6 days after turning 17 like T.J., you're told that
the reason you're feeling so ill and had to withdraw is because of acute leukemia.

I'm flaberghasted that T.J.is handling this like John Wayne in one of his films. He's
determined not to let this beat him and in my heart I know he is right. But T.J. can
use all your well wishes and more importantly, your offer of prayers. If you want to
send him a get well card, maybe start a card at your league or pool hall and gather
as many signatures as you're able, you can send it to:
Blue Fin Billiards · 4113 West Swift Ave - Ste 103., Fresno, CA 93722.

This thread's topic is about a GoFundme Campaign to help pay for T.J.'s mounting
medical expenses which are expected to continue on for another 3-4 years. Beating
leukemia takes a little longer than one might expect, or at least, I was sure surprised.
If anyone is able to make a donation, or can think of a local fund raising event they
might be able to sponsor in T'J''s name, like a pool tournament or a car wash, or can
help spread word of this using their own social media contacts, it would be genuinely
appreciated not only by the Tommy Hill Family but especially, by this Azer.

Thank you for reading this thread and for any type of assistance you can provide but
please always remember that prayers are free and there can truly never be too many.

Matt B.

link: https://www.gofundme.com/tjs-battle-against-leukemia

justinb386 · Aug 17, 2017

This is so sad. I hope he gets better.

Bavafongoul · Aug 18, 2017

With my most sincere appreciation, I want to say "Thank You" to Tammy & Marcus for their generosity.

It is always an uplifting experience to see others reach out to try and help someone in need that isn't a
relative or close friend. And gosh, "But For the Grace of God Go Thee"...this could happen to any of us.

Matt B.

hang-the-9 · Aug 18, 2017

Doesn't gofundme take like half of the money? I'd rather do direct donations, I think someone put in a paypal link for TJ in an earlier post.

I contacted the guy that runs our local leagues and has put on fundraisers before that raised a few 1,000 to see if he wold be willing to run one for TJ even though it's not a local cause.

I'm sure I saw him at Jr Nationals, he may have even played my son in the tournament, he looks very familiar.

Bavafongoul · Aug 18, 2017

Thanks for the ideas and willingness to help.

GoFundMe Pricing: Although it's completely free to create a fundraising campaign, GoFundMe deducts
a 5% fee from each donation & also charges a 2.9% + $0.30 fee from WePay for each payment requested.

I used GoFundMe because it was quick and fast and also did not require creating any bank account.
It seemed to work well for others that have used it and my prior contributions on GoFund worked fine.

Thanks again for exploring anything that might be able to be attempted in your neck of the woods.
The Az community is not surprisingly very tuned into worthwhile causes & gosh, T.J. surely qualifies.

Over the next 9 months, he has to undergo chemo treatment twice a week and so, of course, the notion of
attending high school is completely out of the question. Instead, he will rely on home study.

Let's face it, in the course of less than a week, T.J. went from being excited to be playing in the BEF
tournament to becoming horribly sick. He was severely nauseated, had aches & pain in his neck,
arms, shoulders, legs, headaches, & gradually becoming weaker by the day until he could barely stand.
He had to forfeit & returns home to only learn his illness was a lot worse than anyone could have imagined.

I'd say this young fellow has more than his fare share of bad news and fortunately, it's the kindness of
others whom are complete strangers to T.J. becomes almost an elixir that helps to bolster his spirits.
Heck, I know it has mine & I want to say thanks to everyone for their charity, kind efforts and prayers.

Matt B.

hang-the-9 · Aug 18, 2017

Bavafongoul said:
Thanks for the ideas and willingness to help.

GoFundMe Pricing: Although it's completely free to create a fundraising campaign, GoFundMe deducts
a 5% fee from each donation & also charges a 2.9% + $0.30 fee from WePay for each payment requested.

I used GoFundMe because it was quick and fast and also did not require creating any bank account.
It seemed to work well for others that have used it and my prior contributions on GoFund worked fine.

Thanks again for exploring anything that might be able to be attempted in your neck of the woods.
The Az community is not surprisingly very tuned into worthwhile causes & gosh, T.J. surely qualifies.

Over the next 9 months, he has to undergo chemo treatment twice a week and so, of course, the notion of
attending high school is completely out of the question. Instead, he will rely on home study.

Let's face it, in the course of less than a week, T.J. went from being excited to be playing in the BEF
tournament to becoming horribly sick. He was severely nauseated, had aches & pain in his neck,
arms, shoulders, legs, headaches, & gradually becoming weaker by the day until he could barely stand.
He had to forfeit & returns home to only learn his illness was a lot worse than anyone could have imagined.

I'd say this young fellow has more than his fare share of bad news and fortunately, it's the kindness of
others whom are complete strangers to T.J. becomes almost an elixir that helps to bolster his spirits.
Heck, I know it has mine & I want to say thanks to everyone for their charity, kind efforts and prayers.

Matt B.

I thought it was a lot more than 5%, I seem to remember it being a pretty big chunk. 5% is not that bad.

I got a reply from the league operator, he also runs our Junior program and was at Nationals with our kids from New England, he said he can do something, I just need to bug him about what and plan things out with the pool hall owner.

Have a few ideas for some other things also, one of the weekly tournaments I play in has a break and run pot that was shelved since we started to get less players playing, I am going to ask the two guys that run the tournament if we can take that for a donation. It's not a lot, just a few hundred, but more than what I would be able to do on my own right now.

Lynch · Aug 18, 2017

Bavafongoul said:
With my most sincere appreciation, I want to say "Thank You" to Tammy & Marcus for their generosity.

It is always an uplifting experience to see others reach out to try and help someone in need that isn't a
relative or close friend. And gosh, "But For the Grace of God Go Thee"...this could happen to any of us.

Matt B.

No problem, he seems like a good kid and a promising young player. Hopefully, he's able to pull through this.

Bavafongoul · Aug 19, 2017

Just got home from Blue Fin Billiards......earlier tonight we had a barber shop auction.
T.J., Connor & Tommy shaved their heads along with 22 other people that included
several women. An auction was held on each person and the winning bidder got to
shave the hair of the person they bid on. Afterwards, we took a photo of all the cue
ball heads and I'll try to get a photo posted shortly. It was great to see people show
up and I'm encouraged by the support and help that people are graciously offering.

Thanks everyone & remember that prayers are free so please do include T.J. in yours.

Bavafongoul · Aug 20, 2017

Bump to the Front Page....this thread is way too important not to keep it up front.

Blue Fin Billiards is selling Team T.J bracelets for $5.50......Contact me if interested

Here's a photo of last Friday's cue ball heads from the fundraising Barber Shop Auction.
TJ & Connor aren't in photo; TJ was not feeling well & had to leave before it was taken.
The other photo is the 3 Bald Musketeers: TJ (left).....Dad (center).....Connor (brother).
Where's Waldo? Two women are missing in this photo but can you spot the other two?

Connor is wearing one of the Team TJ bracelets for sale on his right wrist (Orange Color)....
It reads......"Team TJ...........Leukemia Sucks".......again, I can get these for you or just call
Blue Fin Billiards......559-276-9000 and tell them you want to order a Team TJ bracelet but
I can do all the leg work for you if that's your preference.

To my Forum brethren, please keep T.J. in your prayers as it's a long road to his recovery.
(https://www.gofundme.com/tjs-battle-against-leukemia)

Thanks to all for caring.

Matt B.

Scott Lee · Aug 20, 2017

I love that last picture...the three amigos! Glad I could help, even if just a small way! Hang in there everybody! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Scott Lee · Aug 21, 2017

This needs to stay on the front page!

tommyhill · Aug 21, 2017

Thank you all. It's still very hard for me to talk about but the support is just terrific.

Bavafongoul · Aug 22, 2017

Thanks to everyone for following this thread and helping keep this on the front pages.

Major thanks to Sondra, Boyd and Scott for their very kind support of TJ &

Tommy and his entire family are just awed by the outpour of love and support for TJ.

And please, even when you are not able to make a monetary donation, your prayer
offerings are just as important because heaven is listening and the more the merrier.

Thank you,

Matt B.

Bavafongoul · Aug 23, 2017

Blue Fin Billiards had some "#Team TJ" bracelets made and quite understandably, TJ candidly expressed
his feelings about his illness that is also appropriately stated using the tagline..."Leukemia Sucks".

Blue Fin Billiards....559-176-9000....For sale @$5.00 over the counter....$5.50 shipped (reg.USPS mail).

Matt B.

hang-the-9 · Aug 24, 2017

So I went to get the money for the donation from the tournament break and run pot last night, and the money is with some guy that quit the place a while ago LOL I guess at some point one of the people working there as a cook that was a decent player was going to take over running the tournament and took control of the break and run pot.
When he left, the money was not returned, yikes :scratchhead::sad: We are in the process or getting in touch with him to get it back.

We got a second pool room in agreement in doing a fundraiser 50/50 tournament also, the owner already agreed to use of the room, we just need to sort out what we will be doing and how to get the players.

Bavafongoul · Aug 24, 2017

Helping Others Can Be Its Own Reward.......

Hang-the-9,

Thank you ever so much for walking the talk; your efforts to help are not unnoticed or unappreciated.

Last Friday night at the Barber Shop Auction, I saw TJ wearing a face mask for the first time. I know TJ is ill
and when I saw him in the hospital, the very surroundings & atmosphere attested to how serious his condition
is. But my knees buckled a little and tears swelled because the last time I saw TJ at his dad's pool hall,
he won Blue Fin's Friday night 9 ball tournament. The following Monday he left for the BEF tournament
in Las Vegas and well, you know the rest of the story. So seeing him with a face mask was a stark
reminder that he has a long recovery road to travel but there are a lot of us that will make that journey with him
day by day but make no mistake, this is TJ's ordeal but the burden of constant worry Tommy bears is a heavy load.

Again, thank you for caring and trying to help. I promise you that TJ is just a great youngster that will
become even a greater man........"God be willing and the devil be damned." ....I hope you get to meet
TJ in the future and see for yourself firsthand you made the right move trying to help his cause.

Matt B.

hang-the-9 · Aug 24, 2017

Bavafongoul said:
Hang-the-9,

Thank you ever so much for walking the talk; your efforts to help are not unnoticed or unappreciated.

Last Friday night at the Barber Shop Auction, I saw TJ wearing a face mask for the first time. I know TJ is ill
and when I saw him in the hospital, the very surroundings & atmosphere attested to how serious his condition
is. But my knees buckled a little and tears swelled because the last time I saw TJ at his dad's pool hall,
he won Blue Fin's Friday night 9 ball tournament. The following Monday he left for the BEF tournament
in Las Vegas and well, you know the rest of the story. So seeing him with a face mask was a stark
reminder that he has a long recovery road to travel but there are a lot of us that will make that journey with him
day by day but make no mistake, this is TJ's ordeal but the burden of constant worry Tommy bears is a heavy load.

Again, thank you for caring and trying to help. I promise you that TJ is just a great youngster that will
become even a greater man........"God be willing and the devil be damned." ....I hope you get to meet
TJ in the future and see for yourself firsthand you made the right move trying to help his cause.

Matt B.

I probably did meet TJ already, or at least have seen him. I am pretty sure he was also one of the kids my son was playing with at Griffs. My son is 17, and I have 3 daughters, older and younger, the fact that it happened to someone that was at Nationals with us is a big reminder that we are not far away from these things. I have been very lucky to have avoided sickness and accidental deaths or major injuries for the most part in my family, but this shows that "it can't happen to me" does happen, and it's not pleasant to deal with.

One of the guys at the pool hall was very active in helping out, he was the one that talked to the owner about arranging things and is tracking down the money that was not returned.

tommyhill · Aug 27, 2017

tj

the amount of support has been overwhelming. thank you all. tj is hanging in there. he misses the pool room but he just dose'nt have the energy to get out just yet.

GoFundMe Campaign - T.J. Hill .

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