Friday, September 30, 2011

Find Our Fathers

Our mission was to extend the search and rescue and it certainly was not the intent that we would have to continue our mini crusade of fund raising and conducting our own private recovery.

Our fathers had the biggest and most loving hearts. Part of this love for life, love for family and friends, was shared with their love for fishing and one another.

My father as I understand it was one of the men that never received a warning. He was alone in his room. His friends shared with us the pandemonium and how quickly the boat sunk. I cried for days wondering why. Why did he choose to be alone, why wasn't he warned, why didn't any of the crew members whom my dad "personally took care of" warn him? Why?

I'm certainly not alone in my pursuit of "whys." The survivors, -my dad's friends are haunted by this notion day in and day out. The families too, have shared their fair share of questions. The questioning continues as each day passes. Some days are easier than others. We are in this nightmare together.

As I see it, I may have lost a Dad, but now I have a larger extended family.  My family is now joined by 19 other families, as we are all united and bonded for life.

Thank you to my sister Catrina for helping us obtain these bracelets. I will wear this pride. If you'd like to make a donation to help us locate our fathers, please see our website at Findourfathers.com. If you'd like a bracelet, please email us at findourfathers@gmail.com.

-Mandi Lee

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Survivors share what happened that night of July 3

http://www.bajagoodlifenews.com/2011/07/sinking-of-erik.html

Thank you Bob Higgins, Gary hanson, Jerry Garcia, Dave Levine, Steve Slonekar and rescuer, Mike Kalicki.

Facebook Stats . . .Keep hope alive and spreading the word one post at a time

4,000 weekly users
367,808 total posts
*
This data corresponds to 08/03/2011 - 09/01/2011.
3,203 United States
29 Canada
20 Mexico
9 Philippines
7 Australia
4 United Kingdom
3 Italy
2 Japan
2 Spain
2 United Arab Emirates
2 Norway
2 Hong Kong
2 Kenya
2 Singapore
1 Guam
1 Brazil
1 Ireland
1 Indonesia
1 Brunei

This data corresponds to 08/03/2011 - 09/01/2011.
399 Pleasanton
274 Santa Clara
267 Seattle
256 San Francisco
117 San Jose
109 Los Angeles
80 Walnut Creek
78 Sacramento
65 Stockton
54 Oakland
53 San Diego
43 New York
43 Rohnert Park
40 Irvine
40 Overland Park
39 Dallas
32 San Mateo
30 Doylestown
28 Livingston
MoreLess
*
Language?LanguageAggregated language data about the people who like your Page based on the default language setting selected when accessing Facebook. This data corresponds to 08/03/2011 - 09/01/2011.
3,236 English (US)
44 English (UK)
9 Spanish
8 English (Pirate)
4 Spanish (Spain)
3 Leet Speak

Every letter counts. . .


Thank you Mike Tanaka and Senator Inouye.


Friday, September 2, 2011

Letter to the Secretary of Tourism, August 6

Dear Mr. Funcke,

 I am very appreciative of your diligence and cooperation to assist us in bringing our loved ones home. Sir, we have been working tirelessly for the past 36 days; fund raising, speaking to our congressional leaders, and maintaining the attention of mainstream, so when I received your email, it brought me some hope. We (7 families of the missing men) have in place a website that has gained worldwide attention and a facebook page, which since it’s inception has had 1,000,000 views. We have obtained over 4,500 world-wide signatures. We are confident that we will raise 10,000 by the end of the month. We are touched by the generosity and kindness of thousands, thus restoring our hope and faith in humanity. The world-wide support we’ve received has also reminded us the importance of man’s fundamental need to feel safe and secure as many have expressed how their fathers, uncles son's have either fished in Baja Mexico, or our avid fishermen. 

Recently, I was interviewed by our local newspaper, and my mother by our local news station. We felt it was critical to mention the graciousness and kindness of the people in San Felipe in their efforts to help us return our father’s tackle box. We have received box loads of letters from strangers and donations from those wanting to help the people in San Felipe as a result of learning about the safe return of my father’s tackle box through our use of social media and mainstream media. Survivors on the Eric; Bruce Marr, Glenn Wong, Craig Wong, and Charles Gibson reported to San Francisco Associated Press similarly, their experiences with the locals in San Felipe and how they'll never forget the angel wings spread upon them through their selfless acts of the generosity and care of strangers when they faced near death experiences. I’d happily provide this information to you to include on your website if you are interested.

Since our last correspondence, you mentioned how authorities have informed you on the estimation of the where the ship is located, with an estimation of the depth at which rests.  I am wondering, if you can obtain this information. In addition, it would be helpful to learn what type of equipment was used, number of divers, how wide of an area was searched and the hours expended for the dive (s)? We have asked our own government; State Department and Department of Defense and they were not able to provide us with this information.

With regard to the limitation on the inability to make visual contact with the ship, thus impeding dive efforts to conduct the deep water search, I am wondering if it is possible if your government is able to look for funds in various branches of the Mexican government to partner and bring our loved ones home because we can not accomplish this without your assistance. We have asked our government to do the same, but without conclusive findings on the dive your government conducted, we our left with another reminder of the “unknown,” that continues to plague us.

We plan on visiting San Felipe in the upcoming weeks. We hope we can personally thank the locals that have helped the survivors as well as my family. I respectfully appreciate your time and efforts. I hope to meet you as well to thank you in person for your guidance and facilitation in this matter.

With much appreciation,
Mandi Lee
(Daughter of Donald Lee)

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Koong's Chinese Restaurant in Miliptas - 3 day fundraiser

  • From the wall of Ed Bernana: 
    On behalf of the Families of the missing Fishermen, I want to thank all my friends and Family who supported the Find our Fathers Fundraiser these past three days. My wonderful wife Mallory, my Sis in law Jackie Uribe, Nick and Nick Caraveli Jr., Mark Melin, Jason Dorsey, Doug Hames, Kathy Longorio and The Great Freddie Mata all came to Koongs Chinese Restaurant in Milpitas. Love to you all.
  •  
    Hope gives us strength!