Get Greta “Audi” the Shop & Back on the “Roe-d”!
Who am I, and why should you care?
Hi there! I’m Heather, and it’s a pleasure to meet ya! I like sarcasm, eating ice cream with a fork, and long walks in the woods. Now you can go ahead and forget all that because this isn’t about me.
I’m just a gal taking a chance, trying to get the word out and raise funds for a friend who has recently encountered a series of unfortunate events (and refuses to ask for help with car repairs). Truthfully, I think he needs a little help restoring his faith in humanity. I could list dozens of reasons why Mike deserves to be the recipient of some goodwill, but I don’t want him to get a big head, or you get bored reading this so I’ll try to keep it short and sweet, just like me. My goal is to raise enough money so Greta can be repaired and restored to her former glory after suffering substantial damage in an uninsured motorist caused accident.
To get to the story of Greta, I must first introduce you to my fantastical friend, Mike Roe.
Have you ever met someone you got along with so well that you don’t really remember becoming friends, it just feels like you always were?When I moved from Tampa to Tacoma almost five years ago, I really didn’t know anyone here.I got a job bartending downtown, and Mike was one of the first coworkers I met. I’m not quitesure whether it was discovering our mutual love of 90’s/2000s music- particularly R&B-that we would blast on the jukebox or the commiserating about d-bag bar patrons for hours after a long shift that spawned our friendship, but he quickly became one of those kind of friends that you feel like you’ve known forever. In fact, we had many high stress packed nights with the two of us behind the bar, and he managed to be the calm to my crazy. When I started to get all Naomi from “Waiting”, he would play New Kids On The Block’s “Step By Step” on the bar jukebox, and put me in my happy place. He must have spent a fortune on that jukebox over the years!
As anyone in the hospitality industry knows, finding reliable coworkers with a strong work ethic is something you don’t take for granted. Mike is one of the hardest working people I know, but doesn’t spend much money on himself besides maybe a round of golf when the weather cooperates. He was able to work his toosh off and save up to buy the car he had his eye one. This 2003 Audi which he takes so much pride in, would eventually be affectionately referred to as Greta.
Fast Forward...
Life and Other Things In the Time of COVID
There’s not a person on the planet that hasn’t been affected by this pandemic. My heart truly goes out to those who have lost loved ones and family members. Thankfully, the losses that are the basis for this fundraiser are replaceable items.
Here in Washington, the hospitality industry took a huge hit on March 15th when restaurants and bars were shut down due to COVID. Little did we know then that we would be out of work until June 5th. Even then, many would never reopen and the ones that did faced supporting a full staff on half capacity and shortened operating hours. As was the story with the bar where Mike works. In true form, he picked up a second job to help bring in the money. A job pouring concrete 5 days a week with a rise and shine time of 6:30am. 3 days a week he would work the bar for 8 hours or so, and two of those shifts being night shifts after pouring concrete all morning. I told y’all he was a hard worker!!
A few months back, his car was broken into on the street and everything in it was stolen from the sound system down to the pennies left in the console. A gut punch for sure, but little did he know that life was gonna keep on coming.
On Monday, September 28th, during his daytime commute, he was hit almost head on by an uninsured driver. She got out of the car for just enough time to look around, state she wasn’t insured, and drive off. Mike was able to snap a quick pic of her license plate, but it didn’t do any good. Unbelievably, after being licensed for 20ish years, this was the first accident Mike had been involved in! Whata doozy! To top it all off, he didn’t carry uninsured motorist coverage at the time of the collision. The silver lining- he was lucky enough to get away unscathed with just a bit of soreness over the next couple days. Well, that and a broken heart from the substantial damage done to “his baby” that he’s taken such good care of for the past 6 years.
When we talked about the accident and his options for getting the car fixed with no insurance help, the idea for a GoFundMe came up. He immediately said, “That’s just not me”, and he absolutely is correct. That is NOT him to ask for help, or money, or anything in general. So that’s where I come in!
I am humbly asking for you to join with me in helping this kind hearted, hard working, and genuinely deserving human being get back to even, and maybe even restore his faith in humanity. The amount I’ve set to raise is the low end of what I’ve researched that the repairs could cost for the bumper, fender, and such. I will update as soon as quotes/repairs status are available. I realize this isn’t the tearjerker story of the year, but it is important to me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any donation would be unbelievably appreciated, and your thoughtfulness is priceless! Please feel free to comment and let me know of fundraisers you have going on, or that are important to you!
