Looks like we met and passed the $200 match offer in one day! Good job Ar15.com members!

[USA]

We still have a way to go... about $500 and change from my estimates.

[size=5][b]We need another match offer from another member who can afford it![/b][/size=5]

I know there are some shooters out there who can easily afford this... and not every charitable contribution in life has to be tax deductible either! Giving means exactly that... giving. If you NEED a tax deduction then it isn't necessarily CHARITY. I encourage any upper income earners on this board to make a match offer of $200 or more.

There's enough time between now and Christmas for Tim to get 6 rifles built. You all know what it feels like to get a new 'baby'.... and that feeling is something that these men on the ground deserve.

Let me tell you all a story I have only spoken to my family about a couple of times. Exactly two weeks after the WTC attack, my wife & I had an extended weekend vacation planned to visit Chatauqua County NY and go trapsing through the vinyards. We always go to Niagara afterwards, but on a spur of the moment, we headed down to NYC to see ground zero. Don't think that we were going just for the thrill. It was almost like a spiritual pilgrimage. We rolled into town at about 3am. When the sun came up, we made our way into Manhattan as close as we could. I can tell you that the sights and SMELL are something that I will never forget. I have only spoken of this 2 other times since then, once with my wife and my parents. Most of us will never know such devastation, sadness, shock, or emptiness.

I took 6 rolls of pics, but have since destroyed the prints. Maybe someday I will reprint the negatives, but let's just say that the media has given us such sterilized images. Unless you have seen it firsthand, you can never understand the horror.

The people working in the pile have given a piece of themselves to this nation, the victim's families, and to God. After having been there for only a couple of hours, I don't know how they could even manage keeping their sanity. For that, they deserve to feel the warmth that can only come from knowing hundreds of anonymous identities who share their passion for shooting are with them.

A gift from us in this way is only a fraction of the gift they have given to us. If you love America... if you appreciate the efforts of those who would be there for you and your family in the same capacity... make a match offer of $200 or more. Let's show the WORLD what kind of people we AR15 folks really are!

We only need roughly $500 to meet the need. COME ON! Let's finish what we all started!!! Make a $200 pledge to match the other member's donations. If you are a member and can afford it (as I could) then you need to do this.

Other members... KEEP THE $5, $10, $25 donations coming in!!! Incremental amounts make the difference! I know there are those who are out of work right now and can't afford it. That is why I made the match offer... to cover for you. But get behind the rally. Do your part by promoting this effort! It is the least you can do for me covering your $5 gift.