"We need your help
on this one folks...Time for us all to show our support for one
of the really good guys in the racing community.... I'm counting
on all of us to help out with the
“Long
Haul."
Everybody.
A few weeks ago, I
got a call from a friend of The Vault who had recently been
speaking with fellow 3 Wider' Phil Long. Many of you know Phil
through the site (from his comments and photos on our Message
Vault, and also for his terrific 1/25th scale modified models
that he posts pictures of from time to time.
What you may not know is that like a lot of us, Phil started
going to the races in the 60’s with his dad (Reading). After
crewing on a few cars as a teenager, once old enough, Phil
bought his first modified and began his racing career in 1980,
running at Penn National, Grandview, Big Diamond, and more. He
then moved into the Super Sportsman Division and ran mainly at
Silver Springs up through 1988, and then joined the URC Tour for
’89 season where he raced at OCFS, Flemington, East Windsor and
many other speedways.
Shortly after the ’89 season, Phil returned to the Super
Sportsman division and continued driving for another 4 or 5
years until he started experiencing problems with his legs which
he first thought was the result of some old racing injuries.
Further diagnosis revealed that while the problems Phil was
experiencing may have been partially related to the effects of a
few bad spills over the years, the overall diagnosis revealed
something much worse. Phil was diagnosed with a form of
Muscular Dystrophy.
Never the type to “say uncle”, Phil would go on to race for 4
more years until he literally needed his crew members to carry
him out of the car. Eventually, the disease progressed to where
driving was no longer possible.
Not able to drive, Phil still wanted to be involved in the sport
and soon secured the driving talents of favorite Smokey
Snellbaker. The combination proved to be a good one and because
of their success, Phil would still get to visit victory lane on
many occasions - this time as a car owner.
After a 4 year run, and with the ever increasing pressures of
life, Phil decided to sell his racer, but continued on in the
sport as a crew chief for various teams for the following 12
years. To this day, it is something that Phil enjoys, and would
like to be able to do more of.
As mentioned, the other day, I got a call from a fellow who
through the Vault has gotten to know Phil pretty well. He let
me know that over the past few years, the progression of the
Muscular Dystrophy had created more challenges. Phil has relied
on a wheelchair for a while now to get from place to place and
up until very recently (with the assistance of others), Phil was
able to be helped in and out of his Ford Explorer. Once inside,
he could then be driven to different places, whether to see
friends, family, to go to a race… or to go to his required
monthly visits about 35 miles away at the Hershey Medical
Center.
This is no longer the case.
Unfortunately the disease has progressed to the point that Phil
really needs a more suitable vehicle to meet his current and
future needs. The friend who had contacted me asked if there
might be something we can do.
I gave Phil a call.
We spoke for about 30 minutes… He was reluctant to tell me the
specifics, and I could tell the whole time that he really didn’t
want to make a big deal out of it – He really had hoped he’d be
able to just handle things himself… (That’s how a racer-
turned crew chief is wired... “Just figure out a way to get it
done and then do it, right?”)
Over the past few months it has gotten to the point where it’s
just not possible for others to physically be able to assist
Phil in and out of the Explorer. The effects of MD have
progressed to where it is now necessary for him to remain in the
wheelchair in order to go anywhere. As a result, he’s getting
further and further away from the things he’s always done, and
what really hit me guys, is that he’s no longer able to get to
his doctors/specialist appointments, including his necessary
monthly trip to the medical center in Hershey..
He has decided to sell his Explorer and needs to replace it with
a van with a lift that will allow him to enter and exit while
remaining in his wheelchair. It’ll have to be something like a
used mini-van, with an electric ramp/lift/door system, and tie
down tracking inside the vehicle to allow for his wheelchair to
be anchored while someone else drives.
Originally, Phil had hoped that the sale of his Explorer,
combined with “hopefully” some possible funding available via
local, county, state organizations, or the Muscular Dystrophy
Foundation might be able to offset the balance needed for a
suitable van. However after lots of phone calls and a bunch of
letters and emails, he’s discovering that there is “little to
nothing” available. (He's found that there are some
programs/funding available for younger folks who are suffering
from MD, but unfortunately, there is very little for adults who
are in a situation like Phil’s.)
He continues to follow up with the various organizations (phone
calls, letters and emails) and will continue to do so, but so
far, those doors remain closed, or appear very limited at best.
That brings us to the “Long
Haul."
I told Phil, “We can help.” I told him that by ourselves (as
individuals) we don’t have a whole lot. Almost everyone I
know is not doing as well as they were a few years ago….
But as a group, the great folks that make “The Vault” a
regular stop, can help. And if WE ALL help a little, we
can do so much guys. I mean, we really can do this. We
can make the difference.
Guys –All of us. This will work, if everybody helps with
"a something."
The same thing that is happening to Phil could have happened to
you or I, and we thank god that it didn’t... We are all very
fortunate to be able to step up, and to help out one of “us.”
We have already begun the detective work on how much an 8 - 10
year old mini-van, equipped with the ramp/door/tracking system
as mentioned above, with probably somewhere around 100k – 150k
miles on it, is going to cost. Even for something that’ll need some
TLC, I’d estimate that the sale of the Explorer will cover
approximately ¼ of what will be needed, and the rest will be up
to us.
So here’s what we need to do:
1. Raise enough
to cover the price of a van as described above (less the $’s
that Phil will get for the sale of his Explorer.) Your
support can be provided either directly to Phil (address below)
or if you'd like a receipt for tax purposes and/or would like to
use PayPal, you can do so via the great folks at RJC Charities
(information also found below) – Everything received by RJC
Charities with the
“Long
Haul"
in the memo line will go directly to Phil.
2. Once there is
enough raised to cover approximately ½ of what the expected
amount will be, we’re going to start “shakin’ the bushes” to try
to identify/locate a specific vehicle that will meet Phil’s
needs. That means if any of you know of a SPECIFIC
VEHICLE THAT WOULD BE SUITABLE – Let us know and we'll have
somebody check it out. - We’ve got a shop that is
willing to donate their time to thoroughly check out possible
vans once identified (vehicle, engine, trans, wheelchair lift,
ramp, tracking system, etc) and they have also offered to do a
little TLC if needed to make sure that the van will be made
“Phil Friendly!”
3. Once enough
is raised, Phil will buy the
“Long
Haul"
van
and we
can then get the van to a shop (Kevin Eyres has offered to
have the vehicle checked out/serviced at his Avis Service Center
location) to have anything buttoned up that may be needed.
(Maybe we can
get one of the great "Scribblers" to subtly paint the “Long
Haul"
somewhere on it.)
With your help,
Phil’s will have some suitable wheels that’ll allow him to still
get in and out of the vehicle while remaining in his wheelchair,
and once again, be able to get out and about and driven to the
places where he needs to be!
Update
From Phil:
May 27, 2014.
The Long haul
has taken the Checkered Flag!
It is with
sincere thanks and gratitude that I can say we were able to
purchase a wheelchair accessible van to get me back out into the
world. I want to thank all of the 3Wides faithful and the racing
community and family and friends for making this possible.
I have to
personally thank a few people, who without their efforts this
never would have been possible:
First, Rob
Miezejewski, Rob was the one who suggested the fund raiser and
got the ball rolling. Joe Macfarlan (aka Mr. 3Wides) who put a
lot of time and effort into writing the story, posting the
updates and allowing us to use his website for our voice to the
world, not enough thanks can be given to Joe!. Kevin Eyres, who
took a lot of his own time and money to go pick up the van, run
it through his shop and clean up dept. Kevin put new brakes and
tires on the van all out of his own pocket. Bob Caramella of RJC
Charities for allowing us to use his charity for tax free
donations which allowed folks to donate via Paypal. These 4 main
players made all this possible. Thanks also goes to Rick Shive
who drew up "The Long Haul" logo and also lettered one of my
race cars back in the mid 80 and is just a great guy all around.
I have to also
thank Brian Fritz who actually was the one who found us the van.
Brian knew Rochelle Bachman (whose husband Dean races in the
sportsman division at Grandview) whose Father had sadly passed
away in the fall. Rochelle was unsure what to do with the van.
I was put in
contact with Rochelle and she was more than helpful and agreed
to sell us the van at a great price, and hold it as long as we
needed until all the money could be raised to purchase it. The
van is a 2002 Dodge Caravan which is fully equipped with a ramp,
and is exactly what I need to get back on the road.
Thanks also to
these following people who helped with fund raisers, 50/50's and
silent auctions, Craig Fairchok, Alan Krietzer, Gary Wolford,
Lynn Paxton, Ken Johnson, Peyton Long, Troy Hockenberry, Aaron
Brommer and Ned Beck. My family and best friend Harry Nunemacher
also had a big part in all of this. I also want to add thanks
to Scott Pacich and Steven Bubb who wrote about our fund raising
efforts in their AARN articles!
If you were a
contributor to "The Long Haul" give yourself a big pat on the
back because you truly gave me my freedom back. I can now get
caught up on nearly 6 months of missed doctor appointments and
get back to helping the two race teams that I feel like I
abandoned during the last few months.
I'm sorry if
this seems long but I have to make sure everyone understands
what you all have done for me. The 3 Wide's Faithful contributed
80% of all the funds we received. You folks are the Best!
Thank you from
the bottom of my Heart,
Phil Long
