Several weeks ago I detailed the tragedy of the burning and loss of Captain Donnie Brown's shrimpboat, the Miss Karen. Since then there have been several mentions of the fund-raiser being organized to help Donnie get back on the water. That event will take place this Sunday, March 7 from 12-6 p.m. at Gold Bug Island (aka the East Cooper Outboard Motor Club) located right at the foot of the Ben Sawyer bridge.

Last week I received the following e-mail (which I've edited slightly for clarity):

My name is Frances Kennedy, sister to Donnie Brown, the captain and owner of the Miss Karen. As Donnie would say his baby sister—which by no means am I a baby. But this is just the way he is. I wanted to tell you a little about my "bubba". We are a very close knit family that loves each other very much. With this tragedy that has happened to Donnie our hearts go out to him. He has been working on a shrimp boat since he was 13 years old and as all of the shrimpers would say, once the salt water gets in your veins it never leaves. Donnie has such a big heart that whenever anyone needs anything he is one of the first persons there to help out. If any one of the shrimp boats need help, either working on a torn net or with engine problems, Donnie is right there helping before anyone can ask him to. The morning after the fire I went down to the Miss Karen and found him just standing on the back of the boat staring out into the waters. I got on and he gave me the biggest bear hug telling me that all of his hard work and dreams just went up in flames. Everyone says that he is just a big teddy bear so when I say he gave me a big hug it was a really big hug. With Donnie being such a loving and giving person I just want everything to work out for him and I am sure that anyone who has ever met him would say the same. Of course being the person that he is; he did not want anyone to do anything for him. He is not the kind of person that wants a handout, but as I have tried to explain to him, with him being such a giver to everyone, everyone wants to give a little back to him.

With all of this being said, we would like this fund-raiser to be one of the biggest fund-raiser's that we could do for him.

We are going to have raffle tickets for various items priced at 1-$3; 4-$10 & 10-$20.

They include everything from ice cream shops, hair salons, local restaurants, hotels, the movies, tourist attractions, retailers, local seafood stores, local art galleries and more.

I think it's a wonderful testament to the spirit of community that, even in these tough economic times, so many East Cooper businesses have made the above donations and I'm sure the list will increase by the time Saturday rolls around. In addition to all the raffle prizes there will be food and entertainment at the event and it should be a very large time for everyone who attends.