Raffle produces $1,340 for Langenfeld Memorial Fund

By Deb Kelly
The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE February 06, 2008 11:22 pm

— The results of a charity raffle to benefit a local boy whose brother was killed last summer have been disappointing, according to the boy’s mother.
Pam Bird, whose son Cameron Langenfeld, 11, died in June after being struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle along Fruitridge Avenue near Hulman Street, will receive $1,340 to put toward the Cameron Langenfeld Memorial Fund.
The raffle was part of an effort to raise money to help pay funeral and medical expenses, as well as to help with college funds for Cameron’s older brother, Cole.
A trip for two to the NFL Pro Bowl weekend in Honolulu was raffled off, with tickets selling for $25. The Robin D. Earl Charitable Foundation, led by former NFL player Robin Earl, endorsed the raffle and helped buy the Pro Bowl package.
Earl, 52, became involved after Cole mailed letters and football trading cards to several NFL players, seeking autographs, so that he could sell them online to make money.
Earl told the Tribune-Star in October that, unlike the usual fan letters he receives, the one he got from Cole “absolutely hit a nerve for me.”
But from late October to the beginning of December, only 144 raffle tickets sold in Terre Haute, according to Earl. The foundation needed to sell at least 250 tickets to pay for the trip. The drawing, which was to take place in Terre Haute, was canceled.
In an effort to pay for the Pro Bowl package and get some money for the Langenfeld fund, Earl hosted an event in Chicago on Jan. 12. It was a combined effort to raise money for the Langenfeld family and for the Wounded Heroes Fund (which provides support to wounded veterans).
He was able to sell 274 more tickets, for 418 total. A Beech Park, Ill., woman, Cindy Skvarce, won the drawing for the trip to Hawaii. The Pro Bowl is this weekend, and the winner leaves today.
After paying for the trip and expenses, $2,680 was realized. Half of that went to the Wounded Heroes Fund, and half to the Langenfeld fund, according to Earl.
Earl said he also paid $600 for Bird’s expenses in printing fliers for the raffle, for advertising she did in the newspaper, and for travel expenses.
He added that he is planning to donate about $1,500 annually to be placed in a variable annuity in Cole’s name “for the next four or five years.”
Pam Bird said she is still working on money to pay for Cameron’s tombstone, and is struggling with high out-of-pocket expenses for his medical and funeral bills.
Earl said he intends to take some of the proceeds from other Pro Bowl raffles that he endorses and give some portion to the Langenfeld Memorial Fund.
He said his foundation endorses the raffles to help people.
“No one makes anything out of it,” Earl said.
Bird says she doesn’t know what else she could have done in Terre Haute to sell tickets.
“I even took out an ad in the newspaper and something ran on both TV stations,” she said.
Raffle tickets also were sold from PaceSetter Sports in Terre Haute.
As for Earl’s help, Bird added, “He is a wonderful human being.”
Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.kelly@tribstar.com.