Chad Frye is Helping the Hodges

Things have been really busy for me since ending Monster Month here on the blog. I have been working with Tony Bancroft (supervising animator of Pumba, Kronk, and co-dircted Mulan) and Tom Bancroft (supervising animator of Mushu) on helping to put together a charity auction to raise funds for Tim Hodge’s family.

On August 22, 2009 Matthew Hodge, the 17-year-old son of former Disney story artist and Big Idea productions director Tim Hodge, was in a serious auto accident.  A train struck his car at 50mph as he was crossing the tracks.  While Matt suffered neither broken bones nor any internal organ damage, he did receive severe head trauma causing him to remain in a state of coma today.  Matt is a high school senior, a straight A student, and a drummer in his state championship marching band.

Seventeen year old Matthew Hodge in better days practicing on the drum line of his high school's state championship marching band.
Seventeen year old Matthew Hodge in better days practicing on the drum line of his high school’s state championship marching band.

Being self-employed, Tim has short term medical insurance that will not fully cover all of his bills.  Additionally, with the care the family is giving Matt, full-time work is not possible for Tim right now.  This loving family is relying on their faith and the love of family and friends for their survival.  This is a tragic accident that will forever affect their lives as the road to recovery for Matt may be a long one.

In an effort to help the Hodge family, the National Cartoonists Society Foundation (of which I am a board member) is getting involved by hosting a fundraising auction to be held on eBay.  The NCSF is a fully licensed 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that not only helps fund educational endeavors for cartooning, but is there to help cartoonists in dire circumstances like the Hodges.

The cartooning community has really be rallying to help us out by donating artwork to Help the Hodges. I have been busy creating an online catalog of the auction items as they come in over on HelpTheHodges.com, and encourage you to go take a look. It’s truly amazing to see who has been participating.

On November 20-22, Help the Hodges had a booth at the CTN Animation Expo. A full report with photos of the many famous faces that visited our booth are on HelpTheHodges.com. Faces such as Don Bluth, Mike Mignola, J. Scott Campbell, Don Hahn, Peter DeSeve, Lou Romano, and many more.

Josè Zeldaya, who I worked with on "My Friends Tigger & Pooh", looking over the shoulder of the great Don Bluth.
Josè Zeldaya, whom I worked with on “My Friends Tigger & Pooh”, looking over the shoulder of the great Don Bluth.

If you are a professional artist, we would love an artwork donation from you still. If you would like to help financially, your monetary donations are completely tax-deductible. HelpTheHodges.com has a link to where you can donate via Paypal, and by credit card.

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