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In December 2005, a couple of rabid college football fans founded The Loyalty Fund, a non-profit foundation designed to help children with special needs live more comfortably, by paying for much-needed therapy and equipment, or helping with educational tools for mom and dad. As a joke, Steve Johnson, a Tennessee Volunteers fan and father of a child with Autism, put his fan loyalty up for sale on EBay. Through some strange happenings, Steve and the highest bidder, LSU fan Mike Moity, ended up starting The Loyalty Fund to lend a hand to the families of children with disabilities. You can read the entire remarkable story about how the fund came into existence here, courtesy of rivals.com. Please donate to The Loyalty Fund. |
Friday, December 30, 2005Welcome...
Welcome to The Loyalty Fund website. Browse around, read about the fund, why it exists, how it all started, and about the children and families for whom we're trying to raise money.
Thanks for visiting. The Story Originally, this was supposed to be just a joke between some friends. I had recently hard about a Detroit Lions fan put his loyalty up for sale on EBay, and I liked the idea. My boys were napping one day, leaving me with some rare free time, so I did the same thing. I put my fan loyalty up for sale on EBay, promising the winning bidder that he or she could select the team I'd cheer for over the next year.I had no idea any of this would happen. I thought a friend of mine would bid 10 cents, we'd have a few laughs, and that would be the end of it. But soon, the bidding was up to $20, and the auction had a few hundred hits. I began to think that I'd be able to raise some money to pay for a few treatments for my won Will, who has Autism. So I went around to a few message boards, posting about the auction, seeing if I could drive some more attention to it. And the whole thing just took off. The bidding hit $100, then $200, and then more. So I pushed it even further, e-mailing local newspapers, radio and TV stations. The next thing I know, I'm on local TV, and then ESPN's Cold Pizza. The bids continued to climb... $400, then $600, eventually all the way up to $1,425.  Unfortunately, EBay wasn't enjoying the auction as much as I was, and they eventually shut it down. But through some kindness and generosity, we were able to make this something bigger and better than I had ever envisioned. You can read about how the story ended here, and how The Loyalty Fund came to be. Thanks again to rivals.com for their great work with the story. - Steve ContactThe Loyalty Fund PO Box 7188 Knoxville, TN 37921 Phone: (865) 300-0665 Email:johnsonks@bellsouth.net Please donate...
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The Loyalty Fund PO Box 7188 Knoxville, TN 37921 About Us Steve Johnson is a stay at home dad of 2 boys, and his wife Kelly works as a Registered Respiratory Therapist in Knoxville, TN. Steve and Kelly are a paycheck-to-paycheck family, and often can't afford to get Will the therapy he needs.Since their son Will was diagnosed with Autism in 2003, they've become active in learning more about the disease. After countless visits with doctors, talking with other parents, and doing a lot of research on their own, Steve and Kelly have learned some things. From the time he was a year old, Kelly knew that there was something different about Will. Doctors told her again and again that she shouldn't worry about it, that boys were just slower to develop. Kelly always tells other parents to listen to their inner voice, and to not stop searching for answers. "If you think something is wrong with your child, keep pushing until you are satisfied with the answers," she says. Michael Moity graduated from LSU in 1992 with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science, and later earned a law degree from LSU's Paul M. Hebert School of Law in 1997. Michael was the high bidder in Steve's EBay auction, and is bringing Steve and his son to the Peach Bowl to help cheer on the Tigers against the Miami Hurricanes.  Michael lives in New Iberia, Louisiana, and is married to the former Eva Prejean. He also has a son, Miles Michael Moity, born in November 2005. Michael Moity works at The Moity Law Firm located at 340 Weeks Street, New Iberia, Louisiana. Thursday, December 22, 2005The Loyalty Fund Fact Sheet
The goal of The Loyalty Fund is to help families in need of financial support to pay for therapy and equipment for their child with special needs. In addition, The Loyalty Fund seeks to provide educational tools for the parents and child to better help in their progress at home.
Eligibility: The definitions used to identify those eligible for the program include: Family: A unit that consists of a person with special needs, and a parent, relative, or other caregiver who resides in the same household. The decision as to what family will qualify is left up to The Loyalty Fund board, after reviewing the application and completing a phone interview. |
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Archives: December 2005 |
