The gun raffle for Tamara's nose.

[Long Path]

SHORT FORM: One of us is uninsured and needs surgery for cancer on her nose, and there's an awesome series of raffles for guns and such.

• (Edited to add) Heath has a really beaut Savage Model 24 D.L .22 mag/20 gauge combo rifle added to the raffle to help out Tam with her nose. At $25 a ticket, it's a steal. Get in on it.
  EDIT: THE OTHER RAFFLES ARE OVER. HEATH'S SAVAGE IS THE LAST PRIZE LEFT. MAKE YOUR DONATION AND GET YOUR CHANCE WHILE YOU STILL CAN. (Heath got in late, so his drawing was held so more people could get a chance.)
  
  The following raffles are finished, with the prizes awarded to people who donated:
• There's a Cylinder And Slide-conditioned 4" Colt Diamondback that OldNFO has put up. ($25 donation per chance.)
• Mike at http://www.theholstersite.com/ is putting up a custom holster. (I have one that I wear every day. They're great.)
• Carteach is raffling a ISSC M-22 pistol ($25 donation)
• John has a Ruger P94 ($25 donation)
• Dennis from Dragon Leatherworks is also running a raffle to raise money for Tam ($5.56 donation - heh)
• Jackolope Rifles is raffling off a handmade hand-cannon, a.k.a. "handgonne."
• The Jack is raffling off one of my friend Spear's custom-made handgonnes.
• Phlegmfatale is raffling off a custom gun art necklace.
• My friend Stingray is putting up a $200 gift certificate from Brownell's.
• Angus McThang is auctioning off (note: not raffling this one) an AR Lower.
• Zercool is raffling off your choice of one of two Talon holsters. ($5 donation)
• Rimfire Designs has 1911 and Hi-Power grips in their raffle to help raise money for Tam. ($5 donation)
  

Make the donation (by clicking the picture below and clicking on the PayPal logo at Tam's site), and send a screenshot to Jennifer at [email protected] , and tell her what raffle your donation goes to. She's a professional book keeper, and will keep this stuff straight.

LONG FORM:
Friends, a lot of you might not know Tamara, but the old timers here will, and those of y'all in the gun blog community probably do.

Tamara was a member here first in 2000, back when the place was still pretty new. I find this post from April, 2000. It wasn't long at all before she was a moderator here. Though she started with her interest in Glocks (I notice the sig line from back then), her interest was wide, and her immense knowledge of guns grew, so that she moved away from the concept of The One True Sword, and more toward the concept of It's Not The Kitchen, It's The Cook. She had a motorcycle wreck. She left gun sales. She started a couple of very good blogs. Dissatisfied with merely studying guns, she got into training pretty intensively.

She's the real deal. As I said here in my blog:
I'll tell you something about Tam: we need her more than she needs us.

Tamara has got a touch of basal cell carcinoma in her nose. And as much as that sucks, it sucks way worse when you don't have health insurance. Which she does not.

I don't know what the Moh's procedure costs to remove a chunk of your body and stitch it back up into a recognizable feature again, but it seems like you can't ask for a tissue at a hospital without it taking a severe hit on your yearly budget. Genuine surgery is dammit expensive to be paying out of pocket.

Here's the bleg:
Tamara has a tip jar on her blog. It's easy to use. I've used it before. If you click on it, you can donate directly to Tamara, with no middle man. Think of it this way: if she were in town, wouldn't you take her out for dinner and perhaps a beverage? What's dinner run, these days, at a place where you don't bus your own tables? $25? $30?

(Click on the above picture, which takes you to Tamara's blog. On the right side, you'll see that PayPal button. Click it. I can't link it here because each click creates a discrete URL for security reasons.)

Finally, this is for-real. This is not hearsay. This is a good friend, and I personally have seen the damage that the cancer has done to Tam's nose. Your money is going to a good cause. Seriously.

[Long Path]

By the way, if you don't know how to do a screen capture of your PayPal online receipt, just press SHIFT and PRT SCR at the same time, then open Paint and paste it (CTRL and V). Then save it as a .jpg file, and send that as an attachment to Jennifer to at [email protected] , along with instructions for which raffle you wish to enter.

[Evyl Robot]

Thanks for spreading the word on this, LP.

[Sher Khan]

I check Tam's VIEW FROM THE PORCH blog daily, and relish her insights and snarky comments on the foibles of the world. When I learned of her problem, I just contributed a bit via PayPal. I hope lots of others in the Internet firearms community will do the same, whether or not they participate in the raffles and auctions. It adds up, and it's a very worthy cause.

[Long Path]

Friends, the raffles end tomorrow, WHICH MEANS THAT THIS LAST ONE IS EVEN MORE AWESOME TO PUT YOUR MONEY ON!

Heath has a really beaut Savage Model 24 D.L .22 mag/20 gauge combo rifle added to the raffle to help out Tam with her nose. At $25 a ticket, it's a steal. Get in on it. I'm about to. Hit Tam's PayPal button,

and forward the confirmation email to Jennifer ( [email protected] ). Do it before Thanksgiving, QUICK!!!!!

This hasn't been up very long, which means that the chances are very good for you. I know that I'm buying a chance for it, today.

[Long Path]

The other raffles are finished, but Heath's Savage is still up for grabs:
Heath has a really beaut Savage Model 24 D.L .22 mag/20 gauge combo rifle added to the raffle to help out Tam with her nose. At $25 a ticket, it's a steal. Get in on it.

The drawing for this one is on Friday, 12/7/12.