Helping Doug Murray's family
Donation protected
Helping the family of Doug Murray
Background (required by GoFundMe): My name is Laurence "Jake" Goodyear and I live with my family in New Canaan, CT. I initiated this campaign specifically and solely to provide financial support for Katja Murray and her daughters Jordan & Joline. My relationship to them is that I am a friend. More specifically, Katja's husband Doug, who died on September 3, 2013, was a close friend and my college roommate. Every dollar raised through this campaign (net of GoFundMe fees) will be transferred to my bank account, then immediately wired to Katja Murray's bank account in Canada. I will cover all wire fees from my account to hers. This campaign is specifically intended to help Katja and her daughters meet their basic needs, such as food, housing and education. That said, Katja will have full discretion over the funds once they are transferred to her account. The sole reason the funds raised through this campaign are not being transferred directly to Katja and must pass through my account is that GoFundMe restricts the transfer of funds raised by any campaign to the country in which the campaign was initiated. Katja Murray was initially designated as the direct beneficiary, but was unable to complete the process due to the fact that she is not a US citizen and does not have a bank account here. With guidance from the GoFundMe team, Katja and I agreed that the funds will go through my account, then transferred to her. We hope no one is uncomfortable with this, as it is the only way we can get her the $ through this platform. For good reason, GoFundMe required me to explain this before releasing any of the funds so generously donated.
Here's the rest of the story:
Hard to believe nearly 5 years have flown by since the untimely passing of our dear friend Doug “The Murr” Murray in 2013. For those who didn’t have the pleasure to know Doug, he grew up in Ottawa and attended St. Lawrence University, graduating in ‘90. It is impossible to think of Doug without cracking a smile, as he was huge-hearted, full of energy and hilariously funny. He was one of those people that lifted the spirits of everyone by simply entering the room.
Unfortunately, at the time of his sudden death, he had been struggling career-wise (and financially) as he tried to re-invent himself after 15 years of playing professional hockey in Germany. Katja and the girls (Jordan & Joline) were not left with enough to live on. As a result, they moved back to Germany to be closer to her family. Her parents now have health issues and have given Katja and the girls as much as they can (see her story below).
Katja reached out to me recently asking for help. She and the girls are struggling to meet even their most basic needs. Katja is working very hard to increase her income, but they need some short-term help.
If you knew or were touched by Doug, please consider even a small contribution to help Katja and the girls. Every dollar counts. Please also share anyone who knew Doug or might be interested in helping his family.
Jake Goodyear
My name is Katja Murray and this is my story :
I met Doug at a very young age .I was only 19 years old and was just learning the job as a photographer. After I finished my education as a photographer I moved in with Doug and that's when our life started together.
We got married and had two beautiful daughters in the age of 12 and 16 now.
After his hockey career we moved back to Canada . He was opening his own business in finances and I was taking care of the girls. It wasn't an easy beginning. He had a tough time letting go of his hockey career but was doing the best out of the situation.
I think this stress is what coast him his life at the end. This was my biggest nightmare of loosing him . We were almost 20 years together and my whole world fell completely apart.
As a mother I told myself, that I have to be strong and do the best I can do to support our kids, That's why I decided to move back to Germany.
It took me a while to adjust and getting out of my deep sad hole I was in,
I still had some money left from selling the house in Canada and was able to live of it for a while until I was ready to look for work again.
This wasn't easy at all after not working in such a long time. I decided to start my own business in Network Marketing to build a future for the girls and me. It helped me emotionally big time to get out there again and meeting new people. But this business takes time to build ,so that I have jobs here and there on the side to make money to live. Of course I do get a little support from the government ,but that's not even nearly enough.
I am not that person that would go and ask for help, because I always tell my self that I can make it. But this time I was wrong.
I reached out to Jake for help. This isn't easy at all for me but I have no other choice.
My parents tried as much as they can to support me, but with my mom getting cancer they came completely to there limits and my dad is not working anymore .
I applied for a few jobs and hope that there is a chance for me .
But my situation right now is not good. It got so bad, that I didn't even have money for groceries anymore.
I feel embarrassed and sad that I let my little family down and hoping to get a little support just do get me stabilized again.
I appreciate anything that could help my situation right now.
Thank you very much for reading my story and for any help you can give.
Love,
Katja
Background (required by GoFundMe): My name is Laurence "Jake" Goodyear and I live with my family in New Canaan, CT. I initiated this campaign specifically and solely to provide financial support for Katja Murray and her daughters Jordan & Joline. My relationship to them is that I am a friend. More specifically, Katja's husband Doug, who died on September 3, 2013, was a close friend and my college roommate. Every dollar raised through this campaign (net of GoFundMe fees) will be transferred to my bank account, then immediately wired to Katja Murray's bank account in Canada. I will cover all wire fees from my account to hers. This campaign is specifically intended to help Katja and her daughters meet their basic needs, such as food, housing and education. That said, Katja will have full discretion over the funds once they are transferred to her account. The sole reason the funds raised through this campaign are not being transferred directly to Katja and must pass through my account is that GoFundMe restricts the transfer of funds raised by any campaign to the country in which the campaign was initiated. Katja Murray was initially designated as the direct beneficiary, but was unable to complete the process due to the fact that she is not a US citizen and does not have a bank account here. With guidance from the GoFundMe team, Katja and I agreed that the funds will go through my account, then transferred to her. We hope no one is uncomfortable with this, as it is the only way we can get her the $ through this platform. For good reason, GoFundMe required me to explain this before releasing any of the funds so generously donated.
Here's the rest of the story:
Hard to believe nearly 5 years have flown by since the untimely passing of our dear friend Doug “The Murr” Murray in 2013. For those who didn’t have the pleasure to know Doug, he grew up in Ottawa and attended St. Lawrence University, graduating in ‘90. It is impossible to think of Doug without cracking a smile, as he was huge-hearted, full of energy and hilariously funny. He was one of those people that lifted the spirits of everyone by simply entering the room.
Unfortunately, at the time of his sudden death, he had been struggling career-wise (and financially) as he tried to re-invent himself after 15 years of playing professional hockey in Germany. Katja and the girls (Jordan & Joline) were not left with enough to live on. As a result, they moved back to Germany to be closer to her family. Her parents now have health issues and have given Katja and the girls as much as they can (see her story below).
Katja reached out to me recently asking for help. She and the girls are struggling to meet even their most basic needs. Katja is working very hard to increase her income, but they need some short-term help.
If you knew or were touched by Doug, please consider even a small contribution to help Katja and the girls. Every dollar counts. Please also share anyone who knew Doug or might be interested in helping his family.
Jake Goodyear
My name is Katja Murray and this is my story :
I met Doug at a very young age .I was only 19 years old and was just learning the job as a photographer. After I finished my education as a photographer I moved in with Doug and that's when our life started together.
We got married and had two beautiful daughters in the age of 12 and 16 now.
After his hockey career we moved back to Canada . He was opening his own business in finances and I was taking care of the girls. It wasn't an easy beginning. He had a tough time letting go of his hockey career but was doing the best out of the situation.
I think this stress is what coast him his life at the end. This was my biggest nightmare of loosing him . We were almost 20 years together and my whole world fell completely apart.
As a mother I told myself, that I have to be strong and do the best I can do to support our kids, That's why I decided to move back to Germany.
It took me a while to adjust and getting out of my deep sad hole I was in,
I still had some money left from selling the house in Canada and was able to live of it for a while until I was ready to look for work again.
This wasn't easy at all after not working in such a long time. I decided to start my own business in Network Marketing to build a future for the girls and me. It helped me emotionally big time to get out there again and meeting new people. But this business takes time to build ,so that I have jobs here and there on the side to make money to live. Of course I do get a little support from the government ,but that's not even nearly enough.
I am not that person that would go and ask for help, because I always tell my self that I can make it. But this time I was wrong.
I reached out to Jake for help. This isn't easy at all for me but I have no other choice.
My parents tried as much as they can to support me, but with my mom getting cancer they came completely to there limits and my dad is not working anymore .
I applied for a few jobs and hope that there is a chance for me .
But my situation right now is not good. It got so bad, that I didn't even have money for groceries anymore.
I feel embarrassed and sad that I let my little family down and hoping to get a little support just do get me stabilized again.
I appreciate anything that could help my situation right now.
Thank you very much for reading my story and for any help you can give.
Love,
Katja
Organizer
Laurence Goodyear
Organizer
New Canaan, CT